N scenarios,
(response rate)*
Triage system/population
Results ‡
Australia [34] 14 scenarios,
178 nurses** ATS, children 7 paper, 7 computer based scenarios K 0.40 (paper)
K 0.58 (computer)
Australia [35] 8 scenarios,
97 nurses (44%) ATS, children Written case scenarios K 0.21
USA [6] 20 scenarios† ESI version 3, children Written case scenarios Kw 0.84–1.00
USA [6] 272 patients ESI version 3, children Simultaneous triage Kw 0.59 (95% CI 0.55–0.63)
Canada [9] 54 scenarios,
18 nurses (62%) PaedCTAS
children Written case scenarios Kw 0.51 (95% CI 0.50–0.52)
Canada [10] 499 patients PaedCTAS
children Simultaneous triage Lineair Kw 0.55 (95% CI 0.48–0.61)
Quadratic Kw 0.61 (95% CI 0.42–0.80)
The Netherlands [15] 50 scenarios,
48 nurses (87%) MTS adults and children Written case scenarios Kw 0.62
43 nurses (100%)
198 patients MTS in children Written case scenarios
Simultaneous triage Quadratic Kw 0.83 (95% CI 0.74–0.91)
* For studies using the written case scenario method
** Compliance rate not described in paper † N raters and compliance rate not described in paper
‡ K kappa, Kw Weighted kappa,
ATS = Australasian Triage Scale, ESI = Emergency Severity Index, MTS = Manchester Triage System, PaedCTAS = Paediatric Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale
Kappa/weighted kappa: poor if K ≤ 0.20, Fair if 0.21 ≤ K ≤ 0.40, moderate if 0.41 ≤ K ≤ 0.60, good if 0.61 ≤ K ≤ 0.80 very good if K>0.80. (95% confidence interval)