Differences in Admission Rates of Children with Bronchiolitis by Pediatric and General Emergency Departments

Objective: It is uncertain whether pediatric and general emergency departments have different admitting practices regarding children with bronchiolitis. The objective of this study was to quantify the differences in admission practices between pediatric and general emergency departments of children with bronchiolitis in 1 North American metropolitan area, controlling for various factors such as clinical severity, comorbid conditions, and socioeconomic status.

Design: Retrospective cohort review of emergency department visits from April 1992 to March 1997.

Setting: Five emergency departments (1 pediatric and 4 general) serving the Calgary Health Region, which encompasses approximately 850 000 people.

Patients: All children residing within the region who visited a regional emergency department and were diagnosed to have bronchiolitis (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code 466.1, primary or secondary diagnosis).

Main Outcome Measure: Population-standardized estimates of admission rates.

Results: The medical charts of 3091 children diagnosed to have bronchiolitis during the study period were reviewed. Of this number, 2496 children were evaluated at the pediatric emergency department, and 629 (25%) were admitted. The remaining 595 (19%) were evaluated at the general emergency departments, and 221 (37%) were admitted. Controlling for age, gender, estimated family income based on postal code, medical comorbidity, and clinical severity estimated by presenting respiratory rate and room air oxygen saturation, population-standardized estimates for admission rates at the pediatric and general emergency departments were 24% (standard error: 1%) and 43% (standard error: 2%), respectively.

Conclusion: Children diagnosed to have bronchiolitis at the Calgary Health Region's pediatric emergency department were about half as likely to be admitted to the hospital as children diagnosed at the region's general emergency departments.