Quality of Pediatric Emergency Care as Assessed by Children and Their Parents

Background: Pediatric patients comprise a large user group for emergency services. However, few studies have concerned the views of children and parents on emergency care. Purpose: To describe and compare assessments of the quality of pediatric emergency care by children and their parents. Methods: Ninety-eight children and their parents from 4 emergency departments participated in the survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive methods and logistic regression analysis. Results: Participants considered emergency care of high quality. Although children and parents gave similar assessments, children gave lower scores than parents on children's ability to participate in care and private discussions with emergency staff. The predicting factors for children's and their parents' satisfaction with emergency department care were the parents' vocational degree and fewer visits of the child to the emergency department within the current year. Conclusions: Pediatric emergency care should focus on innovative ways of improving children's involvement in their care.