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How safe are our paediatric emergency departments? Protocol for a national prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT: Adverse events (AEs), defined as unintended patient harm related to healthcare provided rather than an underlying medical condition, represent a significant threat to patient safety and public health. The emergency department (ED) is a high-risk patient safety setting for many reasons including presentation 'outside of regular hours', high patient volumes, and a chaotic work environment. Children have also been identified as particularly vulnerable to AEs. Despite the identification of the ED as a high-risk setting and the vulnerability of the paediatric population, little research has been conducted regarding paediatric patient safety in the ED. The study objective is to generate an estimate of the risk and type of AEs, as well as their preventability and severity, for children seen in Canadian paediatric EDs.This multicentre, prospective cohort study will enrol patients under 18 years of age from nine paediatric EDs across Canada. A stratified cluster random sampling scheme will be used to ensure patients recruited are representative of the overall ED population. A rigorous, standardised two-stage process will be used for AE identification. The primary outcome will be the proportion of children with AEs associated with ED care in the 3 weeks following the ED visit. Secondary outcomes will include the proportion of children with preventable AEs and the types and severity of AEs. We will aim to recruit 5632 patients over 1 year and this will allow us to detect a proportion of patients with an AE of 5% (to within an absolute margin of error of 0.6%).Ethics approval has been obtained from participating sites. Results will be disseminated through presentations, peer review publications, linkages with emergency research network and a webinars for key knowledge user groups.This study is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02162147; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02162147).

SUBMITTER: Plint AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4256537 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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How safe are our paediatric emergency departments? Protocol for a national prospective cohort study.

Plint Amy C AC Newton Amanda A Stang Antonia A Bhatt Maala M Barrowman Nick N Calder Lisa L

BMJ open 20141204 12

<h4>Introduction</h4>Adverse events (AEs), defined as unintended patient harm related to healthcare provided rather than an underlying medical condition, represent a significant threat to patient safety and public health. The emergency department (ED) is a high-risk patient safety setting for many reasons including presentation 'outside of regular hours', high patient volumes, and a chaotic work environment. Children have also been identified as particularly vulnerable to AEs. Despite the identi ...[more]

PMID: 25475246

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Project description:ObjectivesTo compare paediatric healthcare practice variation among five European emergency departments (EDs) by analysing variability in decisions about diagnostic testing, treatment and admission.Design and populationConsecutive paediatric visits in five European EDs in four countries (Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, UK) were prospectively collected during a study period of 9-36 months (2012-2015).Primary outcome measuresPractice variation was studied for the following management measures: lab testing, imaging, administration of intravenous medication and patient disposition after assessment at the ED.AnalysisMultivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for general patient characteristics and markers of disease severity. To assess whether ED was significantly associated with management, the goodness-of-fit of regression models based on all variables with and without ED as explanatory variable was compared. Management measures were analysed across different categories of presenting complaints.ResultsData from 111 922 children were included, with a median age of 4 years (IQR 1.7-9.4). There were large differences in frequencies of Manchester Triage System (MTS) urgency and selected MTS presentational flow charts. ED was a significant covariate for management measures. The variability in management among EDs was fairly consistent across different presenting complaints after adjustment for confounders. Adjusted OR (aOR) for laboratory testing were consistently higher in one hospital while aOR for imaging were consistently higher in another hospital. Iv administration of medication and fluids and admission was significantly more likely in two other hospitals, compared with others, for most presenting complaints.ConclusionsDistinctive hospital-specific patterns in variability of management could be observed in these five paediatric EDs, which were consistent across different groups of clinical presentations. This could indicate fundamental differences in paediatric healthcare practice, influenced by differences in factors such as organisation of primary care, diagnostic facilities and available beds, professional culture and patient expectations.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Cancer patients contribute significantly to emergency department (ED) utilization. The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with patients becoming ED frequent attenders (FA) after a cancer-related hospitalization. METHODS:A retrospective cohort study was conducted using national administrative, billing, and death records of Singapore residents discharged alive from Singapore public hospitals from January 2012 to December 2015, with a primary discharge diagnosis of cancer. Patients with four or more ED visits within any 12-month period after discharge from their index hospitalization were classified as FA. Time to FA distribution was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and factors associated with risk of FA were identified using multivariate Cox regression analyses. RESULTS:Records for 47 235 patients were analyzed, of whom 2980 patients were FA within the study period. Age (<17 years, hazard ratio [HR] 2.92, 95% CI 2.28-3.74; 75-84 years, HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.16-1.45; and ?85 years, HR 1.71, 95% CI 1.45-2.02, relative to age 55-64), male gender (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.16-1.37), Charlson comorbidity index (HR 1.21, 95% CI 1.19-1.23), and socioeconomic factors (Medifund use, HR 1.40, 95% CI 1.23-1.59; housing subsidy type, HR 2.12, 95% CI 1.77-2.54) were associated with increased risk of FA. Primary malignancies associated with FA included brain and spine (HR 2.51, 95% CI 1.67-3.75), head and neck cancers (tongue, HR 2.05, 95% CI 1.27-3.31; hypopharynx, HR 2.72, 95% CI 1.56-4.74), lung (trachea and lung, HR 1.57, 95% CI 1.13-2.18; pleural, HR 3.69, 95% CI 2.12-6.34), upper gastrointestinal (stomach, HR 1.93, 95% CI 1.26-2.74; esophagus, HR 4.13, 95% CI 2.78-6.13), hepato-pancreato-biliary (liver, HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.01-2.00, pancreas, HR 2.48, 95% CI 1.72-3.59), and certain hematological malignancies (diffuse non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, HR1.59, 95% CI 1.08-2.33, lymphoid leukemia, HR 1.86, 95% CI 1.21-2.86). Brain (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.27-2.26), lung (HR 1.31, 95% CI 1.01-1.71), liver (HR 1.46, 95% CI 1.14-1.89), and bone (HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.04-1.76) metastases were also associated with FA. CONCLUSION:There are cancer-specific factors contributing to ED frequent attendance. Additional resources should be allocated to support high-risk groups and prevent unnecessary ED use.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Adherence in the context of patients with acute conditions is a major public health issue. It is neglected by the research community and no clinically validated generic scale exists to measure it. OBJECTIVE:To construct and validate a Global Adherence Scale usable in the context of Acute Conditions (GASAC) that takes into account adherence both to advice and to all types of prescriptions that the doctor may give. To measure adherence and to study its determinants. MATERIALS AND METHOD:We based the construction of the GASAC questionnaire on a theoretical model and a literature search. Then, between 2013 and 2014, we validated it in a prospective observational study in two hospital emergency departments. Patients were contacted by phone about one week after their consultation to answer several questionnaires, including GASAC and the Girerd self-administered questionnaire about medication adherence as a control. RESULTS:GASAC consists of four adherence subscales: drug prescriptions; blood tests/ radiography prescriptions; lifestyle advice and follow-up instructions. An analysis of the 154 sets of answers from patients showed that the GASAC drug subscale had satisfactory internal coherence (Cronbach's alpha = 0.78) and was correlated with the Girerd score, as was GASAC as a whole (p<0.01). The median score was 0.93 IQR [0.78-1] for a maximum value of 1 (n = 154). In multivariaable analysis, infection was more conducive of good adherence (cut off at ≥ 0.8; n = 115/154; 74.7% [67.0-81.3]) than trauma (OR 3.69; CI [1.60-8.52]). The Doctor-Patient Communication score (OR 1.06 by score point, CI [1.02-1.10]) also influenced adherence. CONCLUSIONS:GASAC is a generic score to measure all dimensions of patient adherence following emergency departments visits, for use in clinical research and the evaluation of clinical practice. The level of adherence was high for acute conditions and Doctor-Patient Communication was a major determinant of adherence.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory illness, a leading cause of cough in children, accounts for a substantial proportion of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide. In some children acute cough progresses to chronic cough (>4 weeks duration), impacting on morbidity and decreasing quality of life. Despite the importance of chronic cough as a cause of substantial childhood morbidity and associated economic, family and social costs, data on the prevalence, predictors, aetiology and natural history of the symptom are scarce. This study aims to comprehensively describe the epidemiology, aetiology and outcomes of cough during and after acute respiratory illness in children presenting to a tertiary paediatric emergency department. METHODS/DESIGN: A prospective cohort study of children aged <15 years attending the Royal Children's Hospital Emergency Department, Brisbane, for a respiratory illness that includes parent reported cough (wet or dry) as a symptom. The primary objective is to determine the prevalence and predictors of chronic cough (?4 weeks duration) post presentation with acute respiratory illness. Demographic, epidemiological, risk factor, microbiological and clinical data are completed at enrolment. Subjects complete daily cough dairies and weekly follow-up contacts for 28(±3) days to ascertain cough persistence. Children who continue to cough for 28 days post enrolment are referred to a paediatric respiratory physician for review. Primary analysis will be the proportion of children with persistent cough at day 28(±3). Multivariate analyses will be performed to evaluate variables independently associated with chronic cough at day 28(±3). DISCUSSION: Our protocol will be the first to comprehensively describe the natural history, epidemiology, aetiology and outcomes of cough during and after acute respiratory illness in children. The results will contribute to studies leading to the development of evidence-based clinical guidelines to improve the early detection and management of chronic cough in children during and after acute respiratory illness.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:Recent advances in troponin sensitivity enabled early and accurate judgement of ruling-out myocardial infarction, especially non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) in emergency departments (EDs) with development of various prediction-rules and high-sensitive-troponin-based strategies (hs-troponin). Reliance on clinical impression, however, is still common, and it remains unknown which of these strategies is superior. Therefore, our objective in this prospective cohort study is to comprehensively validate the diagnostic accuracy of clinical impression-based strategies, prediction-rules and hs-troponin-based strategies for ruling-out NSTEMIs. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:In total, 1500 consecutive adult patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome will be prospectively recruited from five EDs in two tertiary-level, two secondary-level community hospitals and one university hospital in Japan. The study has begun in July 2018, and recruitment period will be about 1 year. A board-certified emergency physician will complete standardised case report forms, and independently perform a clinical impression-based risk estimation of NSTEMI. Index strategies to be compared will include the clinical impression-based strategy; prediction rules and hs-troponin-based strategies for the following types of troponin (Roche Elecsys hs-troponin T; Abbott ARCHITECT hs-troponin I; Siemens ADVIA Centaur hs-troponin I; Siemens ADVIA Centaur sensitive-troponin I). The reference standard will be the composite of type 1 MI and cardiac death within 30 days after admission to the ED. Outcome measures will be negative predictive value, sensitivity and effectiveness, defined as the proportion of patients categorised as low risk for NSTEMI. We will also evaluate inter-rater reliability of the clinical impression-based risk estimation. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:The study is approved by the Ethics Committees of the Kyoto University Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine and of the five hospitals where we will recruit patients. We will disseminate the study results through conference presentations and peer-reviewed journals.

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How safe are our paediatric emergency departments? Protocol for a national prospective cohort study.

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How safe are our paediatric emergency departments? Protocol for a national prospective cohort study.

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