Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT00807352

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

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.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Triage Disease Attributes Emergencies Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Pediatrics

Age range

Up to 18 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Loading trial locations.

About this study

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.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

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.

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  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 outcomes

  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

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

St. Justine's Hospital

Other

Collaborators

  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
  • SickKids Foundation

Registry information

Acronym: PERC CTAS

Important dates

Study start
2009
Primary completion
2011
Study completion
2011
First posted
Dec 11, 2008
Registry last updated
Aug 5, 2011

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.