SynthesisBMJ open2019
Performance of triage systems in emergency care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05230108 (Implementation of Advanced Triage in the Emergency Department of Bellvitge University Hospital), which is not on this map. Cited by 145 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Implementation of Advanced Triage in the Emergency Department of Bellvitge University Hospital
Who cites it
145 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 303 citations in OpenAlex.
- Technological Integration in Triage With AI and Machine Learning Compared With Conventional Triage and Narrative Synthesis of Telehealth for Patient Prioritization in Emergency and Acute Care Settings: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Accuracy of the large language model ChatGPT in adult emergency department triage: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Safety and Efficacy of Digital Check-in and Triage Kiosks in Emergency Departments: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- An instrument as an action against the blind spot of acute medical care in general practice - a systematic review.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- [Structured triage in the emergency department via intelligent assistant service OPTINOFA : Results of a multicenter, cluster-randomized and controlled interventional study in Germany].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2025Trial
- Comparison of Two Symptom Checkers (Ada and Symptoma) in the Emergency Department: Randomized, Crossover, Head-to-Head, Double-Blinded Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Trial
- Emergency triage in coastal Kenya: a survey of public Emergency Departments.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2026Article
- Comparing Safety and Accuracy of Standardised Versus Subjective Triage Code Assignment by Nurses: A Multicenter Observational Simulated Study.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Observational
- Evaluating Large Language Model-Assisted Emergency Triage: A Comparison of Acuity Assessments by GPT-4 and Medical Experts.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Observational
- On-Device ECG and Vital-Sign Prediction of 24-Hour Mortality and Unplanned ICU Admission in Emergency Department Patients: A Retrospective Evaluation of MEDI-AI.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Reconceptualizing Clinical Priority as Relational Influence: Derivation of Drawing Reasoning From a Sequential Programme of Research.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- Integrating the interpretable machine learning Score for Emergency Risk Prediction (SERP) with emergency department triage to better predict 30-day mortality.Clinical and experimental emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Manchester Triage System: Effectiveness, Limitations, and Global Implementation-A Structured Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Axioms of Diagnostic Urgency: A Characterization Theorem.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Determinants influencing triage system at tertiary care centre as perceived by triage nurse: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Impact of pediatric urgent care clinics on emergency department utilization and patient flow: a pre-post cohort study in Saudi Arabia.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Observational
- Validation of the Gothenburg obstetric triage system.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Beyond a Diagnosis: A Qualitative Study Exploring Patient and Caregiver Expectations About Emergency Department Visits Amid Uncertainty.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2026Article
- Unravelling emergency department triage in everyday practice: An ethnographic study of underlying mechanisms across three Danish emergency departments.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Triage effectiveness: a framework for quantifying the effect of emergency triage prioritization.BMC medical research methodology · 2026Article
85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess and compare the performance of triage systems for identifying high and low-urgency patients in the emergency department (ED).
designSystematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: EMBASE, Medline OvidSP, Cochrane central, Web of science and CINAHL databases from 1980 to 2016 with the final update in December 2018. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies that evaluated an emergency medical triage system, assessed validity using any reference standard as proxy for true patient urgency and were written in English. Studies conducted in low(er) income countries, based on case scenarios or involving less than 100 patients were excluded. REVIEW
methodsReviewers identified studies, extracted data and assessed the quality of the evidence independently and in duplicate. The Quality Assessment of studies of Diagnostic Accuracy included in Systematic Reviews -2 checklist was used to assess risk of bias. Raw data were extracted to create 2×2 tables and calculate sensitivity and specificity. ED patient volume and casemix severity of illness were investigated as determinants of triage systems' performance.
resultsSixty-six eligible studies evaluated 33 different triage systems. Comparisons were restricted to the three triage systems that had at least multiple evaluations using the same reference standard (Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale, Emergency Severity Index and Manchester Triage System). Overall, validity of each triage system to identify high and low-urgency patients was moderate to good, but performance was highly variable. In a subgroup analysis, no clear association was found between ED patient volume or casemix severity of illness and triage systems' performance.
conclusionsEstablished triage systems show a reasonable validity for the triage of patients at the ED, but performance varies considerably. Important research questions that remain are what determinants influence triage systems' performance and how the performance of existing triage systems can be improved.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.