Length of stay and its associated factors among pediatric patients admitted to the pediatric emergency unit of Tikur Anbesa specialized hospital, Addis Ababa Ethiopia 2023
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Date
2023-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background: - The length of stay in the emergency department is described as the time between
arriving at the emergency department and physically leaving the emergency department
(discharge), being referred to another health facility, or being admitted to a hospital bed.
Patient length of stay is a frequently used indicator of hospital performance and it is an important
factor to hospital costs and has an effect on the health care system’s capacity.
Objective: - To assess the length of stay and its associated factors among pediatric patients
admitted to the pediatric emergency unit of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, 2023
Methods and Materials: - Institution-based cross- sectional study design was conducted to assess
the length of stay and its associated factors among pediatric patients admitted to the pediatric
emergency unit of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital. A systematic random sampling technique
was used to select the actual study participants. Semi-structured interviewer administered
questionnaires and chart review was used to collect the data. After checking its completeness, it
was analyzed by using SPSS software version 27. Binary and multiple logistic regression analysis
were used to check variables associated with length of stay.
Result: - A total of 268 patients participated in the study from the total sampled population with
a response rate of 97.81%. Majority of the participants were male 157(58.6%) and their median
age was 3 years. This study showed that 180(67.2%) of the participants had a prolonged length of
stay. The rest were residency (AOR=2.040, CI:1.034-4.025, P=0.040) triage category
(AOR=3.247, CI=1.085-9.742, P=0.036) type of diagnosis (AOR=0.192, CI=0.051-0.377,
P=<0.001), number of investigations (AOR=2.381, CI=1.038-5.462, P= 0.041) and waiting for
imaging (AOR= 4.230, CI= 1.638-10.929, P= 0.003) study were variables which significantly
associated with the prolonged length of stay.
Conclusion: - The finding of this study shows that a large number of pediatric patients stayed
greater than 24 hours in the emergency room. Residency, tirage category, type of diagnosis,
number of investigations and having imaging studies were significant factors that were associated
with the prolonged length of stay.
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Keywords
length of stay, pediatric Emergency department, Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia