Overtriage and Undertriage of Children Presenting to the Emergency Department for Behavioral Health

What visit characteristics are associated with overtriage and undertriage of children presenting to the emergency department (ED) for behavioral health?In this cross-sectional study of 74 564 pediatric visits for behavioral health symptoms across 15 EDs with complete data, 57% were overtriaged and 8% were undertriaged. Overtriage was more likely among visits by younger children, and undertriage was more likely among visits by Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black children than non-Hispanic White children and among visits by children who preferred Spanish compared with English.These findings suggest that overtriage and undertriage of pediatric behavioral health visits in the ED varied by sociodemographic factors, highlighting opportunities to improve triage equity in this population.

Corresponding Author: Jennifer A. Hoffmann, MD, MS, Division of Emergency Medicine, Ann jhoffmann@luriechildrens.org).

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