Short‐stay units near emergency departments compared to inpatient care: effects are uncertain
Citation: Galipeau J, Pussegoda K, Stevens A, et al. Effectiveness and safety of short‐stay units in the emergency department: a systematic review. Academic Emergency Medicine. 2015 Aug;22(8):893-907.
What is this? The COVID-19 pandemic is placing a strain on healthcare services. Existing research on the effects of having short-stay units located near emergency departments might provide useful information for policy makers.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for randomized trials comparing short-stay units versus usual care. They restricted their searches to articles published in English and French between 1993 and 2015. They included 5 trials. All the included trials were from the USA and had compared short stay units versus inpatient care. The authors assessed all trials as moderate risk of bias and, generally, of low quality.
What works: Nothing noted.
What doesn’t work: Nothing noted.
What’s uncertain: The effectiveness and safety of using short-stay units located near emergency departments (compared with inpatient care) are uncertain.