Imperial College London
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Professor Mitch Blair

Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health

Emeritus Professor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 8869 3881m.blair Website

 
 
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Location

 

River Island Academic Centre for Paediatrics and Child HealthNorthwick ParkNorthwick Park and St Marks Site

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Greenfield:2021:10.1136/emermed-2019-209122,
author = {Greenfield, G and Blair, M and Aylin, P and Saxena, S and Majeed, F and Bottle, R},
doi = {10.1136/emermed-2019-209122},
journal = {Emergency Medicine Journal},
pages = {146--150},
title = {Characteristics of frequent paediatric users of emergency departments in England: an observational study using routine national data},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2019-209122},
volume = {38},
year = {2021}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BACKGROUND:Frequent attendances of the same users in emergency departments (ED) can intensify workload pressures and are common among children, yet little is known about the characteristics of paediatric frequent users in EDs. AIM:To describe the volume of frequent paediatric attendance in England and the demographics of frequent paediatric ED users in English hospitals. METHOD:We analysed the Hospital Episode Statistics dataset for April 2014-March 2017. The study included 2 308 816 children under 16 years old who attended an ED at least once. Children who attended four times or more in 2015/2016 were classified as frequent users. The preceding and subsequent years were used to capture attendances bordering with the current year. We used a mixed effects logistic regression with a random intercept to predict the odds of being a frequent user in children from different sociodemographic groups. RESULTS:One in 11 children (9.1%) who attended an ED attended four times or more in a year. Infants had a greater likelihood of being a frequent attender (OR 3.24, 95% CI 3.19 to 3.30 vs 5 to 9 years old). Children from more deprived areas had a greater likelihood of being a frequent attender (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.54 to 1.59 vs least deprived). Boys had a slightly greater likelihood than girls (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.06). Children of Asian and mixed ethnic groups were more likely to be frequent users than those from white ethnic groups, while children from black and 'other' had a lower likelihood (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.05; OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.06; OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.86 to 0.90; OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.92, respectively). CONCLUSION:One in 11 children was a frequent attender. Interventions for reducing paediatric frequent attendance need to target infants and families living in deprived areas.
AU  - Greenfield,G
AU  - Blair,M
AU  - Aylin,P
AU  - Saxena,S
AU  - Majeed,F
AU  - Bottle,R
DO  - 10.1136/emermed-2019-209122
EP  - 150
PY  - 2021///
SN  - 1472-0205
SP  - 146
TI  - Characteristics of frequent paediatric users of emergency departments in England: an observational study using routine national data
T2  - Emergency Medicine Journal
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2019-209122
UR  - https://emj.bmj.com/content/early/2020/11/16/emermed-2019-209122.info
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/84670
VL  - 38
ER  -
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