ArticleBMJ quality & safety2022
How safe are paediatric emergency departments? A national prospective cohort study.
Article in BMJ quality & safety, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Improving the Safety and Quality of Care for Children and Young People With Intellectual and Developmental Disability. The Motivated for Change Programme in a Paediatric Emergency Department Setting. A Mixed Methods Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Parental involvement in patient safety events in paediatric emergency care: a multi-method analysis.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- Article
- Assessing Clinical Deterioration in Children With Dark-Coloured Skin: A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Article
- Pediatric emergency care: Determinants and systematic barriers.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2025Review
- Why do non-urgent patients present to the paediatric emergency department?BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Article
- A national survey of children's experiences and needs when attending Canadian pediatric emergency departments.PloS one · 2024Article
- Family caregivers' emotional and communication needs in Canadian pediatric emergency departments.PloS one · 2023Article
- Why identifying adverse events in paediatric emergency care matters.BMJ quality & safety · 2022Article
- A Scoping Review of Patient Safety Checklists in Pediatrics.Academic pediatricsArticle
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Authors and funding
33 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite the high number of children treated in emergency departments, patient safety risks in this setting are not well quantified. Our objective was to estimate the risk and type of adverse events, as well as their preventability and severity, for children treated in a paediatric emergency department.
methodsOur prospective, multicentre cohort study enrolled children presenting for care during one of 168 8-hour study shifts across nine paediatric emergency departments. Our primary outcome was an adverse event within 21 days of enrolment which was related to care provided at the enrolment visit. We identified 'flagged outcomes' (such as hospital visits, worsening symptoms) through structured telephone interviews with patients and families over the 21 days following enrolment. We screened admitted patients' health records with a validated trigger tool. For patients with flags or triggers, three reviewers independently determined whether an adverse event occurred.
resultsWe enrolled 6376 children; 6015 (94%) had follow-up data. Enrolled children had a median age of 4.3 years (IQR 1.6-9.8 years). One hundred and seventy-nine children (3.0%, 95% CI 2.6% to 3.5%) had at least one adverse event. There were 187 adverse events in total; 143 (76.5%, 95% CI 68.9% to 82.7%) were deemed preventable. Management (n=98, 52.4%) and diagnostic issues (n=36, 19.3%) were the most common types of adverse events. Seventy-nine (42.2%) events resulted in a return emergency department visit; 24 (12.8%) resulted in hospital admission; and 3 (1.6%) resulted in transfer to a critical care unit.
conclusionIn this large-scale study, 1 in 33 children treated in a paediatric emergency department experienced an adverse event related to the care they received there. The majority of events were preventable; most were related to management and diagnostic issues. Specific patient populations were at higher risk of adverse events. We identify opportunities for improvement in care.
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