Validity Analysis of Korean Triage and Acuity Scale

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS), which was developed in 2012 due to the need for a single triage tool for emergency patients in Korea, has since become nationalized. Although five years has passed, there has been limited evidence of its validation. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the validity of the new triage system. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter prospective study. Data were collected from seven hospitals and 42,187 patients were classified using the KTAS from April 1, 2013 to July 6, 2014. We analyzed whether the indirect severity variables showed meaningful differences according to KTAS levels. The variables consisted of disposition from emergency room, length of stay, numbers of consultations, examination of computed tomography, emergency room costs, and performance of emergent interventions. RESULTS: From KTAS level 1 to 5, a decreasing trend in the length of stay in emergency room, frequency of consultation with other departments, admission, computed tomography rate, emergency intervention rate, and emergency room costs was observed. Upon binominal logistic regression, disposition from emergency room and emergent intervention rate showed the highest odds ratio with statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that KTAS is a valid emergency triage tool that reflects the severity of the patient with indirect indicators. The results of this study will be useful as a reference for quality control of KTAS.