The district hospital emergency department: Why do parents present?
OBJECTIVE
To identify parental reasons for presenting their child to the emergency department and their expectations of the consultation.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey of parents of children and adolescents aged 14 years and under who presented to the Fairfield Emergency Department over a 2-month period.


RESULTS
A questionnaire was returned from 694 of 839 eligible presentations (83%), with 51% having an urgent triage and 26% being admitted. Proximity was nominated as the reason for choosing the Fairfield Emergency Department by 48%, 62% of presentations were self-referred and 44% had already seen another doctor. An urgent triage was associated with parental expectation of admission or observation in the emergency department (OR 2.79 [95% CI: 1.98-3.94]).


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of presentations to the district emergency department are self-referred and it is chosen because of proximity. The majority of children do not require admission; however, parents often have expectations that observation and further investigation will occur prior to discharge from the emergency department.
Cooper
Carolyn
C
Fairfield Health Service, Fairfield, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. carolyn.cooper@swsahs.nsw.gov.au
Simpson
Judy M
JM
Hanson
Ralph
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006767:Hospitals, District / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009042:Motivation; D009517:New South Wales; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires