[Demand for paediatric emergency care in a community hospital]. / Demanda asistencial de urgencias pediátricas atendidas en un hospital comarcal.

OBJECTIVE: To study the characteristics of paediatric emergency demand and care delivery in the emergency room of a community hospital. DESIGN: Analysis of the care demand and medical attention given to pediatric patients in an emergency room during 2006. Retrospective review of patients' medical reports. SETTING: Emergency room, Hospital da Barbanza, Riveira, A Coruña, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: Random selection of 1330 patients from 3990 cases attended in 2006. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Age, sex, time of arrival at the emergency room, type of pathology, medical-surgical area, destination on discharge, which medical staff signed the discharge, and length of stay in the emergency room. RESULTS: There were 731 men and 599 women. Demand was greater on the afternoon shift (45%). Discharge destination was mainly to home (94%), with the emergency medical staff signing it in 60.7% of cases and the pediatrician in 34.6%. Children aged 6 or more suffered mainly from trauma; and younger children, from infectious diseases. There were no statistically significant differences between age groups for length of stay in the emergency room, but patients attended by pediatricians stayed longer. CONCLUSIONS: There was a clear majority of little children, especially boys, in our study. Higher afternoon attendance probably occurs because of greater time availability of parents and children. Main causes of emergency pediatric care are infectious diseases and trauma. The child's home is the most frequent destination on discharge. The fact that most discharges are signed by the emergency doctor, together with the increase in emergency paediatric care in recent years, points to the need for constant updating of this medical area by emergency doctors.

Demanda asistencial de urgencias pediátricas atendidas en un hospital comarcal / Demand for paediatric emergency care in a community hospital

Objetivo. Conocer las características de la demanda asistencial, así como de la asistencia que se presta a los pacientes pediátricos en un servicio de urgencias de un hospital comarcal. Diseño. Análisis de la demanda asistencial y de la atención médica prestada a la población pediátrica en el servicio de urgencias durante un año (2006). Revisión retrospectiva de los historiales clínicos de los pacientes incluidos. Emplazamiento. Servicio de Urgencias del Hospital da Barbanza, Riveira (A Coruña). Participantes. Muestreo aleatorio de 1.330 pacientes sobre una población de 3.990 casos atendidos en 2006. Mediciones principales. Edad, sexo, turno de llegada a urgencias, tipo de patología, área médico-quirúrgica, destino en el momento del alta, facultativo encargado del alta y tiempo de estancia. Resultados. Se incluyeron 731 varones y 599 mujeres. La asistencia fue mayor en el turno de tarde (45%). El destino en el momento del alta fue en su mayoría el domicilio (94%), siendo el médico de urgencias el encargado en el 60,7% y el pediatra en el 34,6%. Las consultas de los niños mayores de 6 años fueron básicamente por traumatismos y los menores de esta edad por enfermedades infecciosas. No se encontraron diferencias significativas por grupos de edad con respecto a la estancia en urgencias, pero los pacientes atendidos por pediatras tenían una estancia superior. Conclusiones. Existe un predominio de niños pequeños, especialmente varones, en nuestro estudio. La mayor afluencia en turno de tarde está relacionada con la disponibilidad de tiempo por parte de los padres y de los propios niños. Las principales causas de atención pediátrica urgente son las enfermedades infecciosas y los traumatismos, siendo el domicilio el destino al alta más habitual. El hecho de que una gran mayoría de altas sean gestionadas por el médico de urgencias unido a que la atención urgente pediátrica se está incrementando en los últimos años hace necesaria la constante actualización por parte de los facultativos en este sentido

Objective. To study the characteristics of paediatric emergency demand and care delivery in the emergency room of a community hospital. Design. Analysis of the care demand and medical attention given to pediatric patients in an emergency room during 2006. Retrospective review of patients' medical reports. Setting. Emergency room, Hospital da Barbanza, Riveira, A Coruña, Spain. Participants. Random selection of 1330 patients from 3990 cases attended in 2006. Main Measurements. Age, sex, time of arrival at the emergency room, type of pathology, medical-surgical area, destination on discharge, which medical staff signed the discharge, and length of stay in the emergency room. Results. There were 731 men and 599 women. Demand was greater on the afternoon shift (45%). Discharge destination was mainly to home (94%), with the emergency medical staff signing it in 60.7% of cases and the pediatrician in 34.6%. Children aged 6 or more suffered mainly from trauma; and younger children, from infectious diseases. There were no statistically significant differences between age groups for length of stay in the emergency room, but patients attended by pediatricians stayed longer. Conclusions. There was a clear majority of little children, especially boys, in our study. Higher afternoon attendance probably occurs because of greater time availability of parents and children. Main causes of emergency pediatric care are infectious diseases and trauma. The child's home is the most frequent destination on discharge. The fact that most discharges are signed by the emergency doctor, together with the increase in emergency paediatric care in recent years, points to the need for constant updating of this medical area by emergency doctors