Why Do Parents Bring Their Children to the Emergency Department? A Systematic Inventory of Motives

Table 2

Demographic characteristics of the sample.

Characteristic	Level	Number (percentage)
Gender	Girls	215 (43)
	Boys	285 (57)
Family	Live with their two parents	415 (83)
	Live with their mother	75 (15)
	Live with someone else	10 (2)
Parents’ presence	Both parents are present	395 (79)
	One parent is present	105 (21)
Parents’ mean ages	Mother	34.60
	Father	37.00
Health insurance	No supplementary insurance	15 (3)
	Supplementary insurance through employers	430 (86)
	Insurance through the state-financed program for poor people	55 (11)
Delay between symptom; onset and PED visit	Less than 12 hours	265 (53)
	Between 12 and 24 hours	85 (17)
	More than 24 hours	150 (30)
Prior visit to a physician	Family physician	85 (37)
	Pediatrician	50 (10)
	Mobile doctor service	20 (4)
	No	250 (50)
Number of previous visits to; the PED	None	165 (33)
	One	160 (32)
	Two	135 (27)
	More	40 (8)
Type of health problem	Illness	265 (53)
	Trauma	160 (32)
	Other	75 (15)
Decision to hospitalize	No	455 (91)
	Yes	45 (9)

The mobile doctor service will make urgent visits to patients’ homes on nights and weekends in response to telephone calls from the patients.
As indicated by the parents.