ReviewInternational journal of emergency medicine2026
State of emergency care in Slovakia: a scoping review.
Review in International journal of emergency medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimThe current evidence regarding the state and evolution of emergency care (EC) in Slovakia, including the needs of both patients and healthcare personnel, remains poorly understood. Thus, this study aimed to map existing literature regarding emergency care encounters, with an emphasis on the current state of emergency care services (ECS) in Slovakia. We also aimed to identify barriers and enablers in efficient EC, as well as healthcare professionals’ and users’ perspectives in ECS. METHODS AND MEASURES: We searched the grey literature and literature published in scientific databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and Cochrane Library between 2015 and 2025.
resultsThis review identified 33 sources that focus on the current state and efficiency of ECS. We derived the six main themes, including: 1) systemic factors, 2) patient-related factors, 3) misuse of ECS, 4) factors influencing satisfaction of EC staff, 5) factors influencing satisfaction of patients with ECS, and 6) the role of emergency support applications in ECS. Of those, a total of 14 subthemes emerged: a) challenges in tertiary and postgraduate education, b) demographic and migration crisis in primary care affecting EC, c) inadequate compensation and work-life imbalance, d) lack of experienced staff, e) lack of resources and poor infrastructure, f) lack of data, g) legislative challenges, h) misalignment between outpatient EC and pharmaceutical EC, i) long handover times in EC, j) long waiting times for appointment in primary care, k) patients reluctance to wait, l) population aging, m) vulnerable populations, and n) lack of patients’ health literacy.
conclusionWe were able to identify the concrete challenges to efficient EC. Our review found that most barriers to efficient EC stemmed from systemic factors. However, more studies with a high level of evidence are essential to deepen our understanding of the current state of ECS in Slovakia. Future policies are then required to identify optimal ways to implement this evidence.
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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.