1. Improving triage for children with comorbidity using the ED-PEWS: an observational study.
- Author
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Zachariasse JM, Espina PR, Borensztajn DM, Nieboer D, Maconochie IK, Steyerberg EW, van der Lei J, Greber-Platzer S, and Moll HA
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Austria, Child, Child, Preschool, Comorbidity, Female, Hospitals, Humans, Infant, Male, Netherlands, Patient Admission statistics & numerical data, Prospective Studies, United Kingdom, Emergency Service, Hospital organization & administration, Pediatrics methods, Triage methods
- Abstract
Objective: To assess the value of the Emergency Department-Pediatric Early Warning Score (ED-PEWS) for triage of children with comorbidity., Design: Secondary analysis of a prospective cohort., Setting and Patients: 53 829 consecutive ED visits of children <16 years in three European hospitals (Netherlands, UK and Austria) participating in the TrIAGE (Triage Improvements Across General Emergency departments) project in different periods (2012-2015)., Intervention: ED-PEWS, a score consisting of age and six physiological parameters., Main Outcome Measure: A three-category reference standard as proxy for true patient urgency. We assessed discrimination and calibration of the ED-PEWS for children with comorbidity (complex and non-complex) and without comorbidity. In addition, we evaluated the value of adding the ED-PEWS to the routinely used Manchester Triage System (MTS)., Results: 5053 (9%) children had underlying non-complex morbidity and 5537 (10%) had complex comorbidity. The c-statistic for identification of high-urgency patients was 0.86 (95% prediction interval 0.84-0.88) for children without comorbidity, 0.87 (0.82-0.92) for non-complex and 0.86 (0.84-0.88) for complex comorbidity. For high and intermediate urgency, the c-statistic was 0.63 (0.62-0.63), 0.63 (0.61-0.65) and 0.63 (0.55-0.73) respectively. Sensitivity was slightly higher for children with comorbidity (0.73-0.75 vs 0.70) at the cost of a lower specificity (0.86-0.87 vs 0.92). Calibration was largely similar. Adding the ED-PEWS to the MTS for children with comorbidity improved performance, except in the setting with few high-urgency patients., Conclusions: The ED-PEWS has a similar performance in children with and without comorbidity. Adding the ED-PEWS to the MTS for children with comorbidity improves triage, except in the setting with few high-urgency patients., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)
- Published
- 2022
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