ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2026
Impact of Rapid Viral Testing on Patient Flow and Length of Stay in a Tertiary Pediatric Emergency Department.
Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Scenario-Driven Rapid Testing for Top Pathogens in Pediatric Respiratory Infections: Clinical and Economic Value from Emergency Triage to Precision Anti-Infective Management in the PICU.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Speeding up respiratory diagnosis: clinical drivers, barriers, and system readiness for rapid molecular point-of-care testing in Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOvercrowding in emergency departments (EDs), particularly pediatric emergency departments (PEDs), remains a significant challenge that affects patient outcomes and the efficiency of healthcare. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for respiratory viruses could be a promising tool for improving patient management by enabling prompt etiological diagnoses. This study investigated whether positive RDT results for influenza or adenovirus were associated with differences in length of stay (LOS) in a tertiary PED during epidemic seasons.
methodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted at IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genoa, Italy, over two epidemic seasons (December-February, 2023-2025). All consecutive pediatric patients presenting with fever and respiratory symptoms who underwent rapid diagnostic testing for influenza and/or adenovirus during two epidemic seasons were included. LOS was assessed as the time from triage to discharge (TTD) and from physician assignment to discharge (ATD). Patients were stratified by positive versus negative RDT results. Analyses between groups used the Mann-Whitney U-test for continuous variables and chi-square or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. A two-tailed
resultsOf the 1238 patients analyzed, the median age was 3.3 years (IQR 1.4-7.2), with male predominance (58.1%). A total of 330 patients (26.6%) tested positive. Compared with negative results, positive RDTs were associated with shorter median TTD (217.0 vs. 239.0 min,
conclusionsAmong children tested with RDTs for influenza and adenovirus, positive results were associated with reduced PED LOS without increasing early return visits. While these findings suggest a potential role in supporting patient flow, conclusions regarding the broader impact on PED overcrowding should be drawn with caution. Further prospective studies, including non-tested controls and additional viral targets, are required.
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