Interrater Reliability in the Triage of Children With Mental and Behavioral Health Symptoms Using Two Triage Systems.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The Australian mental health triage scale is widely used in Australia to triage emergency department patients with behavioral health symptoms. The Australian mental health triage scale outperforms the Emergency Severity Index in distinguishing levels of urgency and meeting time-to-evaluation thresholds among adult patients, but its performance among children is not well studied. We aimed to determine the interrater reliability of acuity levels assigned using the Australian mental health triage scale and the Emergency Severity Index for children with behavioral health emergency department presentations.

Methods

A convenience sample of triage-trained emergency nurses at 2 academic United States children's hospitals was surveyed. Nurses completed a brief training m

SUBMITTER: Hoffmann JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12814891 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature