Children’s Mental Health Visits to the Emergency Department: Factors Affecting Wait Times and Length of Stay

Table 2

Exploratory models of ED wait time predictors for pediatric mental health visits (𝑛=558).

	𝑛	Bivariable model			Multivariable model
		Hazard ratio	95% CI	𝑃 value	Hazard ratio	95% CI	𝑃 value
Age	558	1.03	0.99–1.07	0.210	1.01	0.97–1.06	0.521
Sex
Female	314	Reference			Reference
Male	241	1.18	0.96–1.44	0.108	1.48	1.20–1.84	<0.001
Unknown	3	1.26	0.39–4.05	0.699	0.46	0.15–1.41	0.174
Socioeconomic status
<$30,000	15	0.77	0.49–1.22	0.269	1.05	0.62–1.75	0.867
$30,000–$49,999	89	1.04	0.77–1.42	0.792	0.82	0.59–1.14	0.230
$50,000–$69,999	308	Reference			Reference
$70,000–$89,999	68	0.91	0.65–1.28	0.590	0.92	0.65–1.31	0.653
>$90,000	45	1.09	0.73–1.62	0.680	1.08	0.68–1.70	0.753
Unknown	33	1.54	0.97–2.45	0.068	1.07	0.71–1.64	0.737
Day of the week
Tuesday to Thursday	265	Reference			Reference
Friday to Monday	293	1.19	0.97–1.45	0.098	0.98	0.79–1.23	0.846
Patient accompaniment
Parent/guardian or unknown	331	Reference			Reference
EMS, alone, or with friends	227	1.02	0.84–1.25	0.836	1.36	0.95–1.95	0.094
Mode of arrival
Medical transport/police or unknown	298	Reference			Reference
Walk-in	260	0.59	0.48–0.72	<0.001	0.86	0.57–1.28	0.455
ED type
General	398	Reference			Reference
Pediatric	160	5.39	3.78–7.69	<0.001	5.91	4.16–8.39	<0.001
Triage level
CTAS 1	2	9.47	5.75–15.58	<0.001	2.32	0.90–6.01	0.082
CTAS 2	76	7.08	4.95–10.12	<0.001	3.62	2.24–5.85	<0.001
CTAS 3 or unknown	264	Reference			Reference
CTAS 4	201	0.89	0.71–1.11	0.310	0.97	0.74–1.26	0.799
CTAS 5	15	1.64	0.95–2.82	0.076	1.02	0.60–1.72	0.952
Diagnosis
Mental/behavioural disorder secondary to substance abuse	152	Reference			Reference
Anxiety/stress-related disorder	109	0.42	0.31–0.58	<0.001	0.82	0.50–1.32	0.405
Intentional self-harm	61	0.50	0.34–0.75	<0.001	1.15	0.73–1.79	0.550
Mood disorder	97	0.39	0.27–0.56	<0.001	0.97	0.64–1.47	0.889
Schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder	20	0.42	0.25–0.69	<0.001	0.84	0.52–1.34	0.456
Behavioural or emotional disorder/syndrome	119	0.40	0.29–0.56	<0.001	0.97	0.63–1.49	0.898