Diagnostic Accuracy of the World Health Organization Pediatric Emergency Triage, Assessment and Treatment Tool Plus among Patients Seeking Care in Nairobi, Kenya: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction The World Health Organization developed Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment Plus (ETAT+) guidelines to facilitate pediatric care in resource-limited settings. ETAT+ triages patients as nonurgent, priority, or emergency cases, but there is limited research on the performance of ETAT+ regarding patient-oriented outcomes. This study assessed the diagnostic accuracy of ETAT+ in predicting the need for hospital admission in a pediatric emergency unit at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Methods This was a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study of pediatric emergency unit patients enrolled over a 4-week period using fixed random sampling. Diagnostic accuracy of ETAT+ was evaluated using receiver operating curves (ROCs) and respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with associated sensitivity and specificity (reference category: nonurgent). The ROC analysis was performed for the overall population and stratified by age group. Results A total of 323 patients were studied. The most common reasons for presentation were upper respiratory tract disease (32.8%), gastrointestinal disease (15.5%), and lower respiratory tract disease (12.4%). Two hundred twelve participants were triaged as nonurgent (65.6%), 60 as priority (18.6%), and 51 as emergency (15.8%). In the overall study population, the area under the ROC curve was 0.97 (95% CI, 0.95-0.99). The ETAT+ sensitivity was 93.8% (95% CI, 87.0%-99.0%), and the specificity was 82.0% (95% CI, 77.0%-87.0%) for admission of priority group patients. The sensitivity and specificity for the emergency patients were 66.0% (95% CI, 55.0%-77.0%) and 98.0% (95% CI, 97.0%-100.0%), respectively. Conclusions ETAT+ demonstrated diagnostic accuracy for predicting patient need for hospital admission. This finding supports the utility of ETAT+ to inform emergency care practice. Further research on ETAT+ performance in larger populations and additional patient-oriented outcomes would enhance its generalizability and application in resource-limited settings.