Objectives To compare paediatric healthcare practice variation among five European emergency departments (EDs) by analysing variability in decisions about diagnostic testing, treatment and... Show moreObjectives To compare paediatric healthcare practice variation among five European emergency departments (EDs) by analysing variability in decisions about diagnostic testing, treatment and admission. Design and population Consecutive paediatric visits in five European EDs in four countries (Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, UK) were prospectively collected during a study period of 9-36 months (2012-2015). Primary outcome measures Practice variation was studied for the following management measures: lab testing, imaging, administration of intravenous medication and patient disposition after assessment at the ED. Analysis Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for general patient characteristics and markers of disease severity. To assess whether ED was significantly associated with management, the goodness-of-fit of regression models based on all variables with and without ED as explanatory variable was compared. Management measures were analysed across different categories of presenting complaints. Results Data from 111 922 children were included, with a median age of 4 years (IQR 1.7-9.4). There were large differences in frequencies of Manchester Triage System (MTS) urgency and selected MTS presentational flow charts. ED was a significant covariate for management measures. The variability in management among EDs was fairly consistent across different presenting complaints after adjustment for confounders. Adjusted OR (aOR) for laboratory testing were consistently higher in one hospital while aOR for imaging were consistently higher in another hospital. Iv administration of medication and fluids and admission was significantly more likely in two other hospitals, compared with others, for most presenting complaints. Conclusions Distinctive hospital-specific patterns in variability of management could be observed in these five paediatric EDs, which were consistent across different groups of clinical presentations. This could indicate fundamental differences in paediatric healthcare practice, influenced by differences in factors such as organisation of primary care, diagnostic facilities and available beds, professional culture and patient expectations. Show less
Background To develop a clinical prediction model to identify children at risk for revisits with serious illness to the emergency department. Methods and findings A secondary analysis of a... Show moreBackground To develop a clinical prediction model to identify children at risk for revisits with serious illness to the emergency department. Methods and findings A secondary analysis of a prospective multicentre observational study in five European EDs (the TRIAGE study), including consecutive children aged <16 years who were discharged following their initial ED visit ('index' visit), in 2012-2015. Standardised data on patient characteristics, Manchester Triage System urgency classification, vital signs, clinical interventions and procedures were collected. The outcome measure was serious illness defined as hospital admission or PICU admission or death in ED after an unplanned revisit within 7 days of the index visit. Prediction models were developed using multivariable logistic regression using characteristics of the index visit to predict the likelihood of a revisit with a serious illness. The clinical model included day and time of presentation, season, age, gender, presenting problem, triage urgency, and vital signs. An extended model added laboratory investigations, imaging, and intravenous medications. Cross validation between the five sites was performed, and discrimination and calibration were assessed using random effects models. A digital calculator was constructed for clinical implementation. 7,891 children out of 98,561 children had a revisit to the ED (8.0%), of whom 1,026 children (1.0%) returned to the ED with a serious illness. Rates of revisits with serious illness varied between the hospitals (range 0.7-2.2%). The clinical model had a summary Area under the operating curve (AUC) of 0.70 (95% CI 0.65-0.74) and summary calibration slope of 0.83 (95% CI 0.67-0.99). 4,433 children (5%) had a risk of > = 3%, which was useful for ruling in a revisit with serious illness, with positive likelihood ratio 4.41 (95% CI 3.87-5.01) and specificity 0.96 (95% CI 0.95-0.96). 37,546 (39%) had a risk <0.5%, which was useful for ruling out a revisit with serious illness (negative likelihood ratio 0.30 (95% CI 0.25-0.35), sensitivity 0.88 (95% CI 0.86-0.90)). The extended model had an improved summary AUC of 0.71 (95% CI 0.68-0.75) and summary calibration slope of 0.84 (95% CI 0.71-0.97). As study limitations, variables on ethnicity and social deprivation could not be included, and only return visits to the original hospital and not to those of surrounding hospitals were recorded. Conclusion We developed a prediction model and a digital calculator which can aid physicians identifying those children at highest and lowest risks for developing a serious illness after initial discharge from the ED, allowing for more targeted safety netting advice and follow-up. Show less
Objective Our aim was to describe variability in resource use and hospitalization in children presenting with shortness of breath to different European Emergency Departments (EDs) and to explore... Show moreObjective Our aim was to describe variability in resource use and hospitalization in children presenting with shortness of breath to different European Emergency Departments (EDs) and to explore possible explanations for variability.Design The TrIAGE project, a prospective observational study based on electronic health record data.Patients and setting Consecutive paediatric emergency department visits for shortness of breath in five European hospitals in four countries (Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom) during a study period of 9-36 months (2012-2014).Main outcome measures We assessed diversity between EDs regarding resource use (diagnostic tests, therapy) and hospital admission using multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusting for potential confounding variables.Results In total, 13,552 children were included. Of those, 7,379 were categorized as immediate/very urgent, ranging from 13-80% in the participating hospitals. Laboratory tests and X-rays were performed in 8-33% of the cases and 21-61% was treated with inhalation medication. Admission rates varied between 8-47% and PICU admission rates varied between 0.1-9%. Patient characteristics and markers of disease severity (age, sex, comorbidity, urgency, vital signs) could explain part of the observed variability in resource use and hospitalization. However, after adjusting for these characteristics, we still observed substantial variability between settings.Conclusion European EDs differ substantially regarding the resource use and hospitalization in children with shortness of breath, even when adjusting for patient characteristics. Possible explanations for this variability might be unmeasured patient characteristics such as underlying disease, differences in guideline use and adherence or different local practice patterns. Show less
Background Paediatric Early Warning Scores (PEWSs) are being used increasingly in hospital wards to identify children at risk of clinical deterioration, but few scores exist that were designed for... Show moreBackground Paediatric Early Warning Scores (PEWSs) are being used increasingly in hospital wards to identify children at risk of clinical deterioration, but few scores exist that were designed for use in emergency care settings. To improve the prioritisation of children in the emergency department (ED), we developed and validated an ED-PEWS.Methods The TrIAGE project is a prospective European observational study based on electronic health record data collected between Jan 1, 2012, and Nov 1, 2015, from five diverse EDs in four European countries (Netherlands, the UK, Austria, and Portugal). This study included data from all consecutive ED visits of children under age 16 years. The main outcome measure was a three-category reference standard (high, intermediate, low urgency) that was developed as part of the TrIAGE project as a proxy for true patient urgency. The ED-PEWS was developed based on an ordinal logistic regression model, with cross-validation by setting. After completing the study, we fully externally validated the ED-PEWS in an independent cohort of febrile children from a different ED (Greece).Findings Of 119 209 children, 2007 (1.7%) were of high urgency and 29 127 (24.4%) of intermediate urgency, according to our reference standard. We developed an ED-PEWS consisting of age and the predictors heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, consciousness, capillary refill time, and work of breathing. The ED-PEWS showed a cross-validated c-statistic of 0.86 (95% prediction interval 0.82-0.90) for high-urgency patients and 0.67 (0.61-0.73) for highurgency or intermediate-urgency patients. A cutoff of score of at least 15 was useful for identifying high-urgency patients with a specificity of 0.90 (95% CI 0.87-0.92) while a cutoff score of less than 6 was useful for identifying low-urgency patients with a sensitivity of 0.83 (0.81-0.85).Interpretation The proposed ED-PEWS can assist in identifying high-urgency and low-urgency patients in the ED, and improves prioritisation compared with existing PEWSs. Show less
Objective To assess the role of sex in the presentation and management of children attending the emergency department (ED). Design The TrIAGE project (TRiage Improvements Across General Emergency... Show moreObjective To assess the role of sex in the presentation and management of children attending the emergency department (ED). Design The TrIAGE project (TRiage Improvements Across General Emergency departments), a prospective observational study based on curated electronic health record data. Setting Five diverse European hospitals in four countries (Austria, The Netherlands, Portugal, UK). Participants All consecutive paediatric ED visits of children under the age of 16 during the study period (8-36 months between 2012 and 2015). Main outcome measures The association between sex (male of female) and diagnostic tests and disease management in general paediatric ED visits and in subgroups presenting with trauma or musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal and respiratory problems and fever. Results from the different hospitals were pooled in a random effects meta-analysis. Results 116 172 ED visits were included of which 63 042 (54%) by boys and 53 715 (46%) by girls. Boys accounted for the majority of ED visits in childhood, and girls in adolescence. After adjusting for age, triage urgency and clinical presentation, girls had more laboratory tests compared with boys (pooled OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.15). Additionally, girls had more laboratory tests in ED visits for respiratory problems (pooled OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.26) and more imaging in visits for trauma or musculoskeletal problems (pooled OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.20) and respiratory conditions (pooled OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.24). Girls with respiratory problems were less often treated with inhalation medication (pooled OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.83). There was no difference in hospital admission between the sexes (pooled OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.04). Conclusion In childhood, boys represent the majority of ED visits and they receive more inhalation medication. Unexpectedly, girls receive more diagnostic tests compared with boys. Further research is needed to investigate whether this is due to pathophysiological differences and differences in disease course, whether girls present signs and symptoms differently, or whether sociocultural factors are responsible. Show less
