Predictors of Caregiver Satisfaction in Pediatric Laceration Repair in Pediatric Emergency Department

Introduction: Laceration repair is one of the most common procedures performed in pediatric emergency department (PED). The objective of this study was to define the factors of care that are important to caregivers during a pediatric laceration repair and overall ED satisfaction.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional observation study performed in an urban, tertiary hospital. A convenience sample of patients younger than 18 years old presenting to PED for laceration repair was recognized and their caregivers were enrolled to complete a survey developed for this study. Demographic data of patient and caregivers were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to determine which of these factors are related to satisfaction in the process of laceration repair and the overall ED process.

Results: Total 55 caregivers were enrolled. 39(70.9%) of the caregivers were fathers. Majority of children had facial laceration (n=44, 80%) and median ED length of stay was 181 (IQR, 157-208) minutes. the median age of the children was 41.8 (IQR, 23-91) months and the median age of the caregivers were 37 years old (IQR, 35-41). Most of the laceration was repaired by plastic surgeons (81.8%). In the multivariate regression analysis, ‘preparing before procedure’, ‘mid-income family’, ‘caring attitude of nurse’, ‘cosmetic outcome’, and ‘measures to control patient’s anxiety’ were significantly related to the caregiver’s satisfaction about the laceration repair (p<0.05), while ‘preparing before procedure’ and ‘ED environment’ were significantly related to the caregiver’s satisfaction about the overall ED process (p<0.05).

Conclusions: ‘Preparing before procedure’ was significantly related to the caregiver’s satisfaction in both pediatric laceration repair and overall PED experience. The strongest predictors were ‘cosmetic outcome’ for laceration repair process and ‘prepare for the procedure’ for overall PED experience. Our findings suggest that improvements in various aspects will result in more satisfied parents.