The Effect of Pediatric Assessment Triangle and Pediatric Early Warning Score Triage on Success in Patient Assessment in Pediatric Emergency Department.
Pediatric Assessment Triangle triage showed 97.8% agreement with physician triage
The Effect of Pediatric Assessment Triangle and Pediatric Early Warning Score Triage on Success in Patient Assessment in Pediatric Emergency Department.
Effective pediatric triage requires a balance between rapid visual assessment and objective physiological monitoring; however, the comparative efficacy of the Pediatric Assessment Triangle and the Pediatric Early Warning Score in predicting critical clinical outcomes within real-world emergency settings is not yet fully established.
This study aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of the Pediatric Assessment Triangle and the Pediatric Early Warning Score used in the triage assessment of patients presenting to a pediatric emergency department.
This descriptive-correlational study was conducted in the pediatric emergency department of a university hospital in July 2025 with 1964 patients.
PAT triage nearly matched physician triage decisions
Notably, 55.1% of the children were male, and the mean age was 6.10 ± 4.99 years; 95.2% of the children presented as outpatients, and the mean length of stay in the emergency department was 63.26 ± 96.96 minutes.
The Pediatric Early Warning Score was found to be significant in predicting hospitalization, and concordance with the physician triage result was 94.3%.
Significant differences were found between the Pediatric Assessment Triangle and the Pediatric Early Warning Score in terms of hospitalization, length of stay in the emergency department, presentation, resource utilization, consciousness, and saturation levels (P < .001).
DISCUSSION: The findings demonstrate that the Pediatric Assessment Triangle and the Pediatric Early Warning Score are effective in patient triage in pediatric emergency departments and can be used together.