The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale for Children; A Prospective Multi-Center Evaluation. (PERC CTAS)

Study Description

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Study Description Study Design Groups and Cohorts Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Brief Summary:

The aim of this study is to evaluate the validity and the reproducibility of the canadian triage and acuity scale when applied by regular nurses for the triage of children in the Emergency Department.

Condition or disease
Triage; Pediatrics

Detailed Description:

The role of triage in the Emergency Department (ED) is to assign high priority to patients who need urgent care while identifying patients that may be able to wait safely. The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) is a triage tool constructed from a consensus of experts that is universally used in Canada. Until now, there has been no evaluation of the validity of the tool for children in a clinical context. Also, its inter-rater reproducibility has not been evaluated. The expected implementation of a revised version of the Canadian triage tool in 2008 would be an ideal moment to evaluate its validity and reproducibility. Specific objective: 1. To evaluate the validity of the CTAS for children visiting a pediatric ED and 2. To measure the inter-rater agreement for nurses using the CTAS in these settings.

Study Design

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Study Description Study Design Groups and Cohorts Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Study Type :	Observational
Actual Enrollment :	1464 participants
Observational Model:	Cohort
Time Perspective:	Prospective
Official Title:	The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale for Children; A Prospective Multi-Center Evaluation.
Study Start Date :	April 2009
Actual Primary Completion Date :	March 2011
Actual Study Completion Date :	March 2011

Groups and Cohorts

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Study Description Study Design Groups and Cohorts Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Group/Cohort
level 2; Patients triaged level 2
level 3; patients triaged level 3
level 4; patients triaged level 4
level 5; patients triaged level 5

Outcome Measures

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Study Description Study Design Groups and Cohorts Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Primary Outcome Measures :

1. The inter-rater agreement between the two nurses measured by the weighted Kappa score [ Time Frame: 15 minutes ]
2. The correlation between triage level and the hospitalisation rate [ Time Frame: 1 day ]

Secondary Outcome Measures :

1. The correlation between triage level and admission to the intensive care unit [ Time Frame: 1 day ]
2. The correlation between triage level and length of stay in the ED after being seen by a physician [ Time Frame: 1 day ]
3. The correlation between triage level and resources use [ Time Frame: 1 day ]

Eligibility Criteria

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Study Description Study Design Groups and Cohorts Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Ages Eligible for Study:	up to 18 Years (Child, Adult)
Sexes Eligible for Study:	All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	Yes
Sampling Method:	Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All children presenting to a pediatric emergency department

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Every patient younger than 18 years old that presents to the ED will be eligible except for those that need to go directly to the resuscitation room (triage level 1)

Exclusion Criteria:

• For ethical reasons, patients that need an immediate treatment will not be recruited in the study.
• Patients for whom an informed consent could not be obtained (example: insurmountable language barriers) will not be included.

Contacts and Locations

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Study Description Study Design Groups and Cohorts Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Locations

Canada, Alberta
Alberta Children's Hospital
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T3B 6A8
Stollery Children's Hospital
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2C8
Canada, British Columbia
BC Children's and Women's Hospital
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6H 3V4
Canada, Nova Scotia
IWK Heath Centre
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3K 6R8
Canada, Ontario
Children's Hospital of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 4G5
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8L1
The Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X8
Canada, Quebec
CHU Sainte-Justine
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1C5
Canada
Centre hospitalier de l'Université Laval
Quebec, Canada, G1V 4G2

Sponsors and Collaborators

St. Justine's Hospital

SickKids Foundation

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Investigators

Principal Investigator:	Jocelyn Gravel, MD	St. Justine's Hospital

More Information

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Study Description Study Design Groups and Cohorts Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Publications:

Gravel J, Gouin S, Manzano S, Arsenault M, Amre D. Interrater agreement between nurses for the Pediatric Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale in a tertiary care center. Acad Emerg Med. 2008 Dec;15(12):1262-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2008.00268.x. Epub 2008 Oct 17.

Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):

Gravel J, Gouin S, Goldman RD, Osmond MH, Fitzpatrick E, Boutis K, Guimont C, Joubert G, Millar K, Curtis S, Sinclair D, Amre D. The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale for children: a prospective multicenter evaluation. Ann Emerg Med. 2012 Jul;60(1):71-7.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2011.12.004. Epub 2012 Feb 2.

Responsible Party:	Jocelyn Gravel, MD, MSC, CHU Sainte-Justine
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00807352 History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers:	PERC CTAS; Grant No. XG09-049R
First Posted:	December 11, 2008
Last Update Posted:	August 5, 2011
Last Verified:	July 2011

Keywords provided by St. Justine's Hospital:

Triage; Pediatrics; Emergency Department