SynthesisBMJ open2021
Characteristics of frequently attending children in hospital emergency departments: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Profile of European frequent attenders in primary health care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Family practice · 2025Pooled it
- Models of integrated care for young people experiencing medical emergencies related to mental illness: a realist systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Exploring factors associated with high frequency emergency department use by children and young people: a retrospective cohort study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- Integrating care in a children's hospital: a qualitative interview study with mental and physical health professionals in England.BMJ open · 2026Article
- High frequency emergency department use and heterogeneity of reasons for attendance by children and young people: a retrospective cohort study.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- Physical and mental health professionals perspectives of providing mental health care for young people: A qualitative interview study.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- The Frequent Use of Emergency Departments Among the Pediatric Population: A Retrospective Analysis in Rome, Italy.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Avoidable visits to the paediatric emergency department: associated factors and lessons learned from the pandemic.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Reducing patients' rate of frequent attendance through a training intervention for physicians.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Patterns of healthcare use among children with immigrant and non-immigrant backgrounds in 2019 and 2020: evidence from the CRIAS cohort study in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, Portugal.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Unmet supportive care needs in families of children with chronic health conditions: an Australian cross-sectional study.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2023Article
- Maternal Emergency Department Use Before Pregnancy and Infant Emergency Department Use After Birth.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Febrile children with comorbidities at the emergency department - a multicentre observational study.European journal of pediatrics · 2022Observational
- Short stay hospital admissions for an acutely unwell child: A qualitative study of outcomes that matter to parents and professionals.PloS one · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo summarise the literature on frequent attendances to hospital emergency departments (EDs) and describe sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of children who attend EDs frequently.
settingHospital EDs.
participantsChildren <21 years, attending hospital EDs frequently. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcomes measures were defined separately in each study, and were predominantly the number of ED attendances per year.
resultsWe included 21 studies representing 6 513 627 children. Between 0.3% and 75% of all paediatric ED users were frequent users. Most studies defined four or more visits per year as a 'frequent ED' usage. Children who were frequent ED users were more likely to be less than 5 years old. In the USA, patients with public insurance were more likely to be frequent attenders. Frequent ED users more likely to be frequent users of primary care and have long-term conditions; the most common diagnoses were infections and gastroenteritis.
conclusionsThe review included a wide range of information across various health systems, however, children who were frequent ED users have some universal characteristics in common. Policies to reduce frequent attendance might usefully focus on preschool children and supporting primary care in responding to primary care oriented conditions.
Indexed as
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.