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Table 2 Studies on validity of the ESI, CTAS, MTS in paediatric emergency care

From: Reliability and validity of triage systems in paediatric emergency care

Country

N, patients

Triage system

Design

Outcome measure

Conclusion

Canada [8]

807/560

PaedCTAS

Before and after design, prospective study

Admission rate, medical interventions, and

PRISA score, comparison with previous used triage tool (4 level)

Previous triage tool had better ability to predict admission than paediatric CTAS

Canada [11]

58,529

PaedCTAS

Retrospective

Admission, ICU admission

Length of stay (LOS)

Good correlation between urgency and admission, ICU admission and LOS

Canada [33]

1,618

PaedCTAS

Retrospective

Costs of resource utilization

PaedCTAS urgency level correlates well with resource utilization

USA [6]

510

ESI

(version 3)

Children

Prospective triage, retrospective chart review

Admission rate, medical interventions, PRISA score, comparison with used triage tool

ESI score predicts resource use, length of stay, and admission to hospital

The Netherlands [14]

1,065

MTS

Retrospective

Reference standard for urgency *

Sensitivity 63%

Specificity 78%

The Netherlands [16]

17,600

MTS

Prospective

Reference standard for urgency *

Sensitivity 63%

Specificity 79%

  1. ESI = Emergency Severity Index, MTS = Manchester Triage System, PaedCTAS = Paediatric Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale
  2. * Reference standard based on vital signs, diagnosis, resource use, admission rate, and follow-up