Abstract
BACKGROUND: Nonspecific complaints (NSC) at the Emergency Department (ED) are not well researched yet.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the number of patients who could be classified as having NSC early after arrival in the ED using an algorithm.
METHOD: Retrospective cohort study was conducted among all hemodynamically stable non-trauma adult patients with MTS category orange/yellow visiting the ED. Patients who had no specific complaints/signs, predefined on a list, were categorized as NSC.
RESULTS: In total, 2419 patients, of whom 102 (4.2%) presented with NSC. Hospitalization was more prevalent (85.3% vs. 69.0%, p<0.001) and in-hospital mortality was higher in the NSC-group (11.8% vs. 3.5%, adjusted OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.0-3.9, p=0.04).
CONCLUSION: Using an algorithm it is possible to identify NSC patients who have (worse) outcomes than those classified as SC.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 232-238 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Acute Medicine |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Keywords
- Adult
- Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data
- Hospital Mortality
- Hospitalization
- Humans
- Prospective Studies
- Retrospective Studies