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To identify factors associated with prolonged emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) for admitted children, investigators reviewed data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey 2001–2006. During the study period, 4% of patients younger than 18 years who visited EDs were admitted; the authors analyzed data for a random sample of 2024 patients.
Mean and median ED LOS were 5.5 and 3.7 hours, respectively. Overall, 13% of admitted patients had prolonged ED LOS (>8 hours from ED presentation to inpatient bed transfer). Eighty percent of patients presented to general EDs; although admission rates were significantly higher at pediatric EDs than at general EDs, prevalence of prolonged ED LOS did not differ significantly betw…