Why do patients leave the Pediatric Emergency Department and what happens to them?

Background: The dropout rate is an important indicator of the quality of emergency services. The authors intend to evaluate factors that influence abandonments in the Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) and to assess outcome and destination of the highest triage leveled patients.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of the abandonment cases occurring between 2014 and 2016 in a tertiary hospital, including sociodemographic characterization, temporal factors, triage level, referral from other health services, waiting time and patient attendance.