Multivariable Analysis of Patient Satisfaction in the Pediatric Emergency Department

Background: Published data on predictive factors associated with parent satisfaction from care in a pediatric emergency department (ED) visit are limited to be descriptive and obtained from small data sets. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to determine both modifiable and nonmodifiable demographic and operational factors that influence parental satisfaction using a large and ethnically diverse site data set.

Methods: Data consist of responses to the National Research Council (NRC) survey questionnaires and electronic medical records of 15,895 pediatric patients seen in a pediatric ED between the ages of 0 and 17 years discharged from May 2018 to September 2019. Bivariate, χ2, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out using the NRC item on rating the ED between 0 and 10 as the primary outcome. Responses were coded using a top-box approach, a response of “9” or “10” represented satisfaction with the facility, and every other response was indicated as undesirable. Demographic data and NRC questionnaire were used as potential predictors.

Results: Multivariable regression analysis found the following variables as independent predictors for positive parental rating of the ED: Hispanic race/ethnicity (odds ratio [OR], 1.285), primary language Spanish (OR, 2.399), and patients who had government-sponsored insurance (OR, 1.470). Those survey items with the largest effect size were timeliness of care (OR, 0.188) and managing discomfort (OR, 0.412).

Conclusions: Parental rating of an ED is associated with nonmodifiable variables such as ethnicity and modifiable variables such as timeliness of care and managing discomfort.