Screening for tuberculosis among high-risk groups attending London emergency departments: a prospective observational study.
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SUBMITTER: Gupta RK
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8223173 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Carbon monoxide (CO) exposure does not produce a classical toxidrome and so it is thought that it may easily be missed, allowing patients to continue to be exposed to CO. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of raised carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) levels in a targeted population of patients presenting to four emergency departments (EDs) in England. A prospective observational study undertaken over a 9-month period. Four EDs; one in a rural/suburban area and three serving urban populations. 1758 patients presenting to the EDs with chest pain, exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), non-traumatic headache, seizures or flu-like symptoms. Measures COHb levels measured using a pulse CO-oximeter or venous sample. Patients with COHb levels ≥2.5% (non-smokers) or ≥5% (smokers) completed a questionnaire assessing potential sources. Patients were defined to be positive for CO exposure if they had a positive COHb and either an identified source or no other reason for their raised level. Proportion of positive patients was: overall-4.3%; COPD-7.5%; headache-6.3%; flu-like-4.3%; chest pain-3.3%; seizures-2.1%. A variety of gas and solid (predominantly charcoal) fossil fuel sources were identified. This study showed that 4.3% of patients presenting to EDs with non-specific symptoms had unexpectedly raised COHb levels 1.4% of patients had a source of CO identified. Study limitations included non-consecutive recruitment, delays in COHb measurements and a lack of ambient CO measurements, which precludes precise determination of incidence. However, this study should alert clinicians to consider CO exposure in patients presenting with non-specific symptoms, in particular headache and exacerbation of COPD, and if necessary refer patients for suitable public-health follow-up, even in the presence of low COHb readings. Further research should include standardised scene assessments.
| S-EPMC3533103 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Chest X-rays (CXRs) are the first-line investigation in patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with dyspnoea and are a valuable adjunct to clinical management of COVID-19 associated lung disease. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to facilitate rapid triage of CXRs for further patient testing and/or isolation. In this work we develop an AI algorithm, CovIx, to differentiate normal, abnormal, non-COVID-19 pneumonia, and COVID-19 CXRs using a multicentre cohort of 293,143 CXRs. The algorithm is prospectively validated in 3289 CXRs acquired from patients presenting to ED with symptoms of COVID-19 across four sites in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. CovIx achieves area under receiver operating characteristic curve for COVID-19 of 0.86, with sensitivity and F1-score up to 0.83 and 0.71 respectively, and performs on-par with four board-certified radiologists. AI-based algorithms can identify CXRs with COVID-19 associated pneumonia, as well as distinguish non-COVID pneumonias in symptomatic patients presenting to ED. Pre-trained models and inference scripts are freely available at https://github.com/beringresearch/bravecx-covid .
| S-EPMC8516957 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Children constitute 6-10% of all patients attending the emergency department (ED) by emergency medical services (EMS). However, discordant EMS use in children occurs in 37-61% with fever as an important risk factor. We aimed to describe EMS utilisation among febrile children attending European EDs. This study is part of an observational multicentre study assessing management and outcome in febrile children up to 18 years (MOFICHE) attending twelve EDs in eight European countries. Discordant EMS use was defined as the absence of markers of urgency including intermediate/high triage urgency, advanced diagnostics, treatment, and admission in children transferred by EMS. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed for the association between (1) EMS use and markers of urgency, and (2) patient characteristics and discordant EMS use after adjusting all analyses for the covariates age, gender, visiting hours, presenting symptoms, and ED setting. A total of 5464 (15%, range 0.1-42%) children attended the ED by EMS. Markers of urgency were more frequently present in the EMS group compared with the non-EMS group. Discordant EMS use occurred in 1601 children (29%, range 1-59%). Age and gender were not associated with discordant EMS use, whereas neurological symptoms were associated with less discordant EMS use (aOR 0.2, 95%CI 0.1-0.2), and attendance out of office hours was associated with more discordant EMS use (aOR 1.6, 95%CI 1.4-1.9). Settings with higher percentage of self-referrals to the ED had more discordant EMS use (p < 0.05). Conclusion: There is large practice variation in EMS use in febrile children attending European EDs. Markers of urgency were more frequently present in children in the EMS group. However, discordant EMS use occurred in 29%. Further research is needed on non-medical factors influencing discordant EMS use in febrile children across Europe, so that pre-emptive strategies can be implemented. What is Known: •Children constitute around 6-10% of all patients attending the emergency department by emergency medical services. •Discordant EMS use occurs in 37-61% of all children, with fever as most common presenting symptom for discordant EMS use in children. What is New: •There is large practice variation in EMS use among febrile children across Europe with discordance EMS use occurring in 29% (range 1-59%), which was associated with attendance during out of office hours and with settings with higher percentage of self-referrals to the ED. •Future research is needed focusing on non-medical factors (socioeconomic status, parental preferences and past experience, healthcare systems, referral pathways, out of hours services provision) that influence discordant EMS use in febrile children across Europe.
| S-EPMC10570223 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although successful airway management is essential for emergency trauma care, comprehensive studies are limited. We sought to characterise current trauma care practice of airway management in the emergency departments (EDs) in Japan.Analysis of data from a prospective, observational, multicentre registry-the Japanese Emergency Airway Network (JEAN) registry.13 academic and community EDs from different geographic regions across Japan.723 trauma patients who underwent emergency intubation from March 2010 through August 2012.ED characteristics, patient and operator demographics, methods of airway management, intubation success or failure at each attempt and adverse events.A total of 723 trauma patients who underwent emergency intubation were eligible for the analysis. Traumatic cardiac arrest comprised 32.6% (95% CI 29.3% to 36.1%) of patients. Rapid sequence intubation (RSI) was the initial method chosen in 23.9% (95% CI 21.0% to 27.2%) of all trauma patients and in 35.5% (95% CI 31.4% to 39.9%) of patients without cardiac arrest. Overall, intubation was successful in ?3 attempts in 96% of patients (95% CI 94.3% to 97.2%). There was a wide variation in the initial methods of intubation; RSI as the initial method was performed in 0-50.9% of all trauma patients among 12 EDs. Similarly, there was a wide variation in success rates and adverse event rates across the EDs. Success rates varied between 35.5% and 90.5% at the first attempt, and 85.1% and 100% within three attempts across the 12 EDs.In this multicentre prospective study in Japan, we observed a high overall success rate in airway management during trauma care. However, the methods of intubation and success rates were highly variable among hospitals.
| S-EPMC4322207 | biostudies-other
Project description:ObjectiveTo assess sex differences in presentation and management of febrile children with respiratory symptoms attending European Emergency Departments.Design and settingAn observational study in twelve Emergency Departments in eight European countries.PatientsPreviously healthy children aged 0-<18 years with fever (≥ 38°C) at the Emergency Department or in the consecutive three days before Emergency Department visit and respiratory symptoms were included.Main outcome measuresThe main outcomes were patient characteristics and management defined as diagnostic tests, treatment and admission. Descriptive statistics were used for patient characteristics and management stratified by sex. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed for the association between sex and management with adjustment for age, disease severity and Emergency Department. Additionally, subgroup analyses were performed in children with upper and lower respiratory tract infections and in children below five years.ResultsWe included 19,781 febrile children with respiratory symptoms. The majority were boys (54%), aged 1-5 years (58%) and triaged as low urgent (67%). Girls presented less frequently with tachypnea (15% vs 16%, p = 0.002) and increased work of breathing (8% vs 12%, p<0.001) compared with boys. Girls received less inhalation medication than boys (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.74-0.90), but received antibiotic treatment more frequently than boys (aOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.15), which is associated with a higher prevalence of urinary tract infections. Amongst children with a lower respiratory tract infection and children below five years girls received less inhalation medication than boys (aOR 0.77, 95% CI 0.66-0.89; aOR 0.80, 95% CI 0.72-0.90).ConclusionsSex differences concerning presentation and management are present in previously healthy febrile children with respiratory symptoms presenting to the Emergency Department. Future research should focus on whether these differences are related to clinicians' attitudes, differences in clinical symptoms at the time of presentation and disease severity.
| S-EPMC9348645 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundHospital emergency departments play a crucial role in the initial assessment and management of suspected COVID-19 infection. This needs to be guided by studies of people presenting with suspected COVID-19, including those admitted and discharged, and those who do not ultimately have COVID-19 confirmed. We aimed to characterise patients attending emergency departments with suspected COVID-19, including subgroups based on sex, ethnicity and COVID-19 test results.Methods and findingsWe undertook a mixed prospective and retrospective observational cohort study in 70 emergency departments across the United Kingdom (UK). We collected presenting data from 22445 people attending with suspected COVID-19 between 26 March 2020 and 28 May 2020. Outcomes were admission to hospital, COVID-19 result, organ support (respiratory, cardiovascular or renal), and death, by record review at 30 days. Mean age was 58.4 years, 11200 (50.4%) were female and 11034 (49.6%) male. Adults (age >16 years) were acutely unwell (median NEWS2 score of 4), frequently had limited performance status (46.9%) and had high rates of admission (67.1%), COVID-19 positivity (31.2%), organ support (9.8%) and death (15.5%). Children had much lower rates of admission (27.4%), COVID-19 positivity (1.2%), organ support (1.4%) and death (0.3%). Similar numbers of men and women presented to the ED, but men were more likely to be admitted (72.9% v 61.4%), require organ support (12.2% v 7.7%) and die (18.2% v 13.0%). Black or Asian adults tended to be younger than White adults (median age 54, 50 and 67 years), were less likely to have impaired performance status (43.1%, 26.8% and 51.6%), be admitted to hospital (60.8%, 57.3%, 69.6%) or die (11.6%, 11.2%, 16.4%), but were more likely to require organ support (15.9%, 14.3%, 8.9%) or have a positive COVID-19 test (40.8%, 42.1%, 30.0%). Adults admitted with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 had similar age, performance status and comorbidities (except chronic lung disease) to those who did not have COVID-19 confirmed, but were much more likely to need organ support (22.2% v 8.9%) or die (32.1% v 15.5%).ConclusionsImportant differences exist between patient groups presenting to the emergency department with suspected COVID-19. Adults and children differ markedly and require different approaches to emergency triage. Admission and adverse outcome rates among adults suggest that policies to avoid unnecessary ED attendance achieved their aim. Subsequent COVID-19 confirmation confers a worse prognosis and greater need for organ support.RegistrationISRCTN registry, ISRCTN56149622, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN28342533.
| S-EPMC7688143 | biostudies-literature
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.
| S-EPMC8971764 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo assess the role of sex in the presentation and management of children attending the emergency department (ED).DesignThe TrIAGE project (TRiage Improvements Across General Emergency departments), a prospective observational study based on curated electronic health record data.SettingFive diverse European hospitals in four countries (Austria, The Netherlands, Portugal, UK).ParticipantsAll consecutive paediatric ED visits of children under the age of 16 during the study period (8-36 months between 2012 and 2015).Main outcome measuresThe association between sex (male of female) and diagnostic tests and disease management in general paediatric ED visits and in subgroups presenting with trauma or musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal and respiratory problems and fever. Results from the different hospitals were pooled in a random effects meta-analysis.Results116 172 ED visits were included of which 63 042 (54%) by boys and 53 715 (46%) by girls. Boys accounted for the majority of ED visits in childhood, and girls in adolescence. After adjusting for age, triage urgency and clinical presentation, girls had more laboratory tests compared with boys (pooled OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.15). Additionally, girls had more laboratory tests in ED visits for respiratory problems (pooled OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.26) and more imaging in visits for trauma or musculoskeletal problems (pooled OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.20) and respiratory conditions (pooled OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.24). Girls with respiratory problems were less often treated with inhalation medication (pooled OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.83). There was no difference in hospital admission between the sexes (pooled OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.04).ConclusionIn childhood, boys represent the majority of ED visits and they receive more inhalation medication. Unexpectedly, girls receive more diagnostic tests compared with boys. Further research is needed to investigate whether this is due to pathophysiological differences and differences in disease course, whether girls present signs and symptoms differently, or whether sociocultural factors are responsible.
| S-EPMC7500294 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundChildren with rare bone diseases (RBDs), whether medically complex or not, raise multiple issues in emergency situations. The healthcare burden of children with RBD in emergency structures remains unknown. The objective of this study was to describe the place of the pediatric emergency department (PED) in the healthcare of children with RBD.MethodsWe performed a retrospective single-center cohort study at a French university hospital. We included all children under the age of 18 years with RBD who visited the PED in 2017. By cross-checking data from the hospital clinical data warehouse, we were able to trace the healthcare trajectories of the patients. The main outcome of interest was the incidence (IR) of a second healthcare visit (HCV) within 30 days of the index visit to the PED. The secondary outcomes were the IR of planned and unplanned second HCVs and the proportion of patients classified as having chronic medically complex (CMC) disease at the PED visit.ResultsThe 141 visits to the PED were followed by 84 s HCVs, giving an IR of 0.60 [95% CI: 0.48-0.74]. These second HCVs were planned in 60 cases (IR = 0.43 [95% CI: 0.33-0.55]) and unplanned in 24 (IR = 0.17 [95% CI: 0.11-0.25]). Patients with CMC diseases accounted for 59 index visits (42%) and 43 s HCVs (51%). Multivariate analysis including CMC status as an independent variable, with adjustment for age, yielded an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of second HCVs of 1.51 [95% CI: 0.98-2.32]. The IRR of planned second HCVs was 1.20 [95% CI: 0.76-1.90] and that of unplanned second HCVs was 2.81 [95% CI: 1.20-6.58].ConclusionAn index PED visit is often associated with further HCVs in patients with RBD. The IRR of unplanned second HCVs was high, highlighting the major burden of HCVs for patients with chronic and severe disease.
| S-EPMC6942261 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo summarise the literature on frequent attendances to hospital emergency departments (EDs) and describe sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of children who attend EDs frequently.SettingHospital EDs.ParticipantsChildren <21 years, attending hospital EDs frequently.Primary outcome measuresOutcomes measures were defined separately in each study, and were predominantly the number of ED attendances per year.ResultsWe included 21 studies representing 6 513 627 children. Between 0.3% and 75% of all paediatric ED users were frequent users. Most studies defined four or more visits per year as a 'frequent ED' usage. Children who were frequent ED users were more likely to be less than 5 years old. In the USA, patients with public insurance were more likely to be frequent attenders. Frequent ED users more likely to be frequent users of primary care and have long-term conditions; the most common diagnoses were infections and gastroenteritis.ConclusionsThe review included a wide range of information across various health systems, however, children who were frequent ED users have some universal characteristics in common. Policies to reduce frequent attendance might usefully focus on preschool children and supporting primary care in responding to primary care oriented conditions.
| S-EPMC8523960 | biostudies-literature