@article {Armon390, author = {K Armon and T Stephenson and V Gabriel and R MacFaul and P Eccleston and U Werneke and S Smith}, title = {Determining the common medical presenting problems to an accident and emergency department}, volume = {84}, number = {5}, pages = {390--392}, year = {2001}, doi = {10.1136/adc.84.5.390}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}, abstract = {All accident and emergency (A\&E) attendances over a one year period were prospectively studied in order to determine common medical presenting problems. Data were collected on children (0{\textendash}15 years) attending a paediatric A\&E department in Nottingham between February 1997 and February 1998. A total of 38 982 children were seen. The diagnoses of 26 756 (69\%) were classified as trauma or surgical, and 10 369 (27\%) as medical; 1857 (4\%) could not be classified. The commonest presenting problems reported for {\textquotedblleft}medical{\textquotedblright} children were breathing difficulty (31\%), febrile illness (20\%), diarrhoea with or without vomiting (16\%), abdominal pain (6\%), seizure (5\%), and rash (5\%). The most senior doctor seeing these patients in A\&E was a senior house officer (intern or junior resident) in 78\% of cases, paediatric registrar (senior resident) in 19\%, consultant (attending physician) in 1.4\%, and {\textquotedblleft}other{\textquotedblright} in 2.6\%. Guidelines developed for A\&E should target the commonest presenting problem categories, six of which account for 83\% of all medical attendances, and be directed towards senior house officers.}, issn = {0003-9888}, URL = {https://adc.bmj.com/content/84/5/390}, eprint = {https://adc.bmj.com/content/84/5/390.full.pdf}, journal = {Archives of Disease in Childhood} }