PEDOCS score for pediatric emergency department overcrowding

Two-variable estimate of overcrowding severity in pediatric emergency departments.

Patients currently in the waiting room

patients

Total patients currently registered in the ED

patients

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When to use

Quantifying real-time overcrowding in a pediatric emergency department, where NEDOCS was found to correlate less well with expert crowding ratings.

Formula

PEDOCS = 33.3 x [0.11 + 0.07 x (patients in the waiting room) + 0.04 x (total registered patients in the ED)]. Uses the same 0-200+ band scale as NEDOCS/CEDOCS.

Pearls and pitfalls

Derived from prospective site-sampling in a single pediatric ED; the two-variable model outperformed the original 5-variable NEDOCS in that setting.
Not externally validated across multiple pediatric EDs; use as an adjunct to clinical judgement.

References

Weiss SJ, Ernst AA, Sills MR, Quinn BJ, Johnson A, Nick TG. Development of a novel measure of overcrowding in a pediatric emergency department. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2007;23(9):641-645.