Table 2.

Accordance of physician triage recommendations in comparison to a paediatric telephone triage protocol for abdominal pain (N=96)

	Physician triage recommendation
Triage according to paediatric telephone protocol for abdominal pain	Emergency services called	Go to emergency department now	Go to office now	See today in office	See within 2 weeks in office	Home care
Call emergency services now, N	1
Go to emergency department now, N	1	14	4			1
Go to office now, N		11	21	3	1	4
See today in office, N		3	2	12	1	3
See within 2 weeks in office, N				2	2
Home care, N				1		9
Total, N	2	28	27	18	4	17
Physician triage recommendation in accordance with telephone triage protocol, N (%)	1 (50%)	14 (50%)	21 (78%)	12 (67%)	2 (50%)	9 (53%)
Logistic/organisational reasons for discrepancy, N (%)	1 (50%)	11 (39%)	4 (15%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Medical reasons for discrepancy, N (%)	0 (0%)	3 (11%)	2 (7%)	5 (28%)	2 (50%)	8 (47%)
Inappropriate management by physician, N (%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (5%) (overtriage)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)