Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jun;18(6):e26-31.

Are wait times and length of stay in Alberta emergency departments for children's mental health meeting national benchmarks? Trends from 2002 to 2008

Maryam Soleimani  1 , Simran Grewal  2 , Rhonda Rosychuk  3 , Amanda Newton  4
Affiliations

Are wait times and length of stay in Alberta emergency departments for children's mental health meeting national benchmarks? Trends from 2002 to 2008

Maryam Soleimani et al. Paediatr Child Health. 2013 Jun.

Abstract
in English, French

Objective: To describe wait times, treatment times and length of stay (LOS) for pediatric mental health visits to emergency departments (EDs).

Methods: The present study was a retrospective cohort analysis of mental health visits (n=30,656) made by children <18 years of age between April 2002 and March 2008 to EDs in Alberta using administrative data. Wait time (time from triage to physician assessment), treatment time (time from physician assessment to end of visit) and LOS (time from start to end of visit) were examined for each visit. Wait time and treatment time data were available for 2006 to 2008, and LOS data were available for all study years. Wait times and LOS were compared with national benchmarks for the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS; levels 1 [resuscitative] through 5 [nonurgent]). All times are presented in h and min.

Results: Median wait times for visits triaged as CTAS 1, 2, 3 and 4 exceeded national recommendations. The longest wait times were for visits triaged as urgent (CTAS 3; 1 h 46 min) and less urgent (CTAS 4; 1 h 45 min). Lower-acuity visits had wait times that exceeded treatment times (CTAS 4: 1 h 45 min versus 1 h 8 min; CTAS 5: 1 h 5 min versus 52 min). Across all CTAS levels, the LOS in the ED increased during the study period, but met national benchmarks.

Conclusions: Most median ED wait times for pediatric mental health visits exceeded national recommendations, while the median LOS for all visits met recommendations. Lower-acuity visits had wait times that exceeded treatment times. Future research should explore whether longer wait times are associated with adverse outcomes, and whether current wait/treatment times are warranted to ensure that ED throughput is optimized.

Objectif: Décrire les temps d’attente, la durée du traitement et la durée de séjour (DdS) lors de visites au département d’urgence (DU) en raison de problèmes de santé mentale en pédiatrie.

Méthodologie: La présente étude était une analyse rétrospective de cohorte des visites effectuées par des enfants de moins de 18 ans pour des problèmes de santé mentale (n=30 656) entre avril 2002 et mars 2008 aux DU de l’Alberta, extrapolées selon les données administratives. Pour chaque visite, les chercheurs ont examiné le temps d’attente (délai entre le triage et l’évaluation du médecin), la durée du traitement (délai entre l’évaluation du médecin et la fin de la visite) et la DdS (délai entre le début et la fin de la visite). Les données sur le temps d’attente et la durée du traitement étaient disponibles de 2006 à 2008, tandis que celles sur la DdS l’étaient pour toutes les années de l’étude. Les chercheurs ont comparé les temps d’attente et la DdS avec les normes nationales d’après l’Échelle canadienne de triage et de gravité (ÉCTG; niveaux 1 [réanimation] à 5 [non urgent]). Les temps et les durées sont présentés en heures et en minutes.

Résultats: Le temps d’attente médian des visites dont le triage correspondait à une ÉCTG de 1, 2, 3 et 4 était supérieur aux recommandations nationales. Les temps d’attente les plus longs s’associaient aux visites classées comme urgentes (ÉCGT 3; 1 h 46 min) et moins urgentes (ÉCGT 4; 1 h 45 min) lors du triage. Le temps d’attente des visites moins aiguës était plus long que la durée de traitement (ÉCGT 4 : 1 h 45 min par rapport à 1 h 8 min; ÉCGT 5 : 1 h 5 min par rapport à 52 min). Dans tous les niveaux d’ÉCGT, la DdS au DU a augmenté pendant la période de l’étude, mais respectait les normes nationales.

Conclusion: La plupart des temps d’attente médians des visites au DU pour des problèmes de santé mentale en pédiatrie étaient plus longs que les recommandations nationales, tandis que la DdS médiane de toutes les visites respectait les recommandations. Les visites moins aiguës s’associaient à des temps d’attente plus longs que la durée de traitement. Les prochaines recherches devraient viser à déterminer si les temps d’attente plus longs s’associent à des effets indésirables et si le temps d’attente et la durée de traitement actuels se justifient pour assurer l’optimisation du cheminement au DU.

Keywords: Crisis intervention; Emergencies; Health services administration; Pediatrics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1)
Figure 1)
Wait time according to triage level. Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) level 1, resuscitative; 2, emergency; 3, urgent; 4, less urgent; 5, nonurgent; 9, CTAS data unavailable
Figure 2)
Figure 2)
Treatment time according to triage level. Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) level 1, resuscitative; 2, emergency; 3, urgent; 4, less urgent; 5, nonurgent; 9, CTAS data unavailable
Figure 3)
Figure 3)
Discharge diagnosis according to triage level.The following diagnostic groups are not visually represented due to low numbers: behavioural syndrome, personality-related disorder and unspecified
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Ottawa, Ontario: CIHI; 2005. Understanding emergency department wait times. Who is using emergency departments and how long are they waiting? < https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/Wait_times_e.pdf> (Accessed April 17, 2012).
    1. Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Understanding emergency department wait times. How long to people spend in emergency departments in Ontario? Ottawa, Ontario: CIHI; Jan, 2007. < https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/emergency_department_wait_times_e.pdf> (Accessed April 17, 2012).
    1. Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Taking action on the issue of overcrowding in Canada’s emergency departments. CAEP. 2005 Jun 16; < www.waittimealliance.ca/waittimes/CAEP.pdf> (Accessed April 17, 2012).
    1. Guttman A, Schull MJ, Vermeulen MJ, et al. Association between waiting times and short term mortality and hospital admission after departure from emergency department: Population based cohort study from Ontario, Canada. BMJ. 2011;342:d2983. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liew D, Liew D, Kennedy MP. Emergency department length of stay independently predicts excess inpatient length of stay. Med J Aust. 2003;179:524–6. - PubMed