Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32349581›Full record

ReviewInquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing

Waiting Time as an Indicator for Health Services Under Strain: A Narrative Review.

Daniel McIntyre, Clara K Chow

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
102citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

102 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  17. Frailty Alerts Reduce Waiting Time and Length of Stay in the Emergency Department.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2026
    Observational
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  19. Article
  20. Article

42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Daniel McIntyreThe University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-4854-4050
Clara K ChowThe University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

As pressure increases on public health systems globally, a potential consequence is that this is transferred to patients in the form of longer waiting times to receive care. In this review, we overview what waiting for health care encompasses, its measurement, and the data available in terms of trends and comparability. We also discuss whether waiting time is equally distributed according to socioeconomic status. Finally, we discuss the policy implications and potential approaches to addressing the burden of waiting time. Waiting time for elective surgery and emergency department care is the best described type of waiting time, and it either increases or remains unchanged across multiple developed countries. There are many challenges in drawing direct comparisons internationally, as definitions for these types of waiting times vary. There are less data on waiting time from other settings, but existing data suggest waiting time presents a significant barrier to health care access for a range of health services. There is also evidence that waiting time is unequally distributed to those of lower socioeconomic status, although this may be improving in some countries. Further work to better clarify definitions, identify driving factors, and understand hidden waiting times and identify opportunities for reducing waiting time or better using waiting time could improve health outcomes of our health services.

Indexed as

Healthcare DisparitiesHealth Services AccessibilityWaiting ListsAustraliaElective Surgical ProceduresEmergency Service, HospitalEnglandEuropeGlobal HealthHumansSocioeconomic Factorselective surgeryemergency departmentinequalityprimary carewaiting time

Identifiers

PMID32349581
PMCPMC7235968

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.