Public Awareness of Triage System in Emergency and Trauma Department: A Literature Review

Abstract

A triage system is being implemented in the Emergency Department (ED) to help categorise the patients according to their acuity. However, there are limited studies discussing patients’ knowledge and understanding of the triage system. This review aimed to identify prior studies that discussed the patients’ knowledge and understanding of the triage system and to discover patients’ expectations of priority when they came to the ED and the reasons for attending the department. The articles were searched through several databases (IIUM Discovery Service, Science Direct, and PubMed) to obtain sources using the Boolean phrase 'AND', filtered down to English full-text articles with open access, and published between 2010 and 2020. A total of 16 studies were included in this review. Among all the studies, only one was conducted in the Southeast Asia region, Singapore. Most of the studies reported findings on reasons for visiting the ED for non-urgent attendance, and four of the studies discussed the patients’ awareness of the triage system. The patients need more information to improve their understanding of the triage system. The literature highlighted that most of the patients expected higher priority when they came to the ED. The main reason for their visit to the ED was because of the convenience offered by the ED in terms of operating hours and the availability of all facilities in one place. More studies about patient’s awareness and knowledge of the triage system need to be conducted to provide a clear insight into what they know about the triage system.