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The Effect of Point-of-Care Testing at Triage: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia

INTRODUCTION: Prolonged waiting times during episodes of emergency department (ED) crowding are associated with poor outcomes. Point-of-care testing (POCT) at ED triage prior to physician evaluation may help identify critically ill patients. We studied the impact of ED POCT in a single ED with a hig...

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Autores principales: Abualenain, Jameel, Almarzouki, Ahd, Saimaldaher, Rawan, Zocchi, Mark S., Pines, Jesse M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6123100/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30202503
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2018.6.38217
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author Abualenain, Jameel
Almarzouki, Ahd
Saimaldaher, Rawan
Zocchi, Mark S.
Pines, Jesse M.
author_facet Abualenain, Jameel
Almarzouki, Ahd
Saimaldaher, Rawan
Zocchi, Mark S.
Pines, Jesse M.
author_sort Abualenain, Jameel
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Prolonged waiting times during episodes of emergency department (ED) crowding are associated with poor outcomes. Point-of-care testing (POCT) at ED triage prior to physician evaluation may help identify critically ill patients. We studied the impact of ED POCT in a single ED with a high degree of crowding for patients with high-risk complaints who were triaged as non-critically ill. METHODS: We conducted the study from April–July 2017 at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Patients with one of seven complaints received triage POCT. The primary outcome was whether POCT results at triage resulted in immediate transfer of the patient from the waiting room into the ED. Secondary outcomes were whether the triage nurse felt that the POCT results were useful, and whether triage POCT changed triage acuity. We used simple descriptive statistics to summarize the data. RESULTS: A total of 94 patients were enrolled and received i-STAT® POCT. The most common symptoms and triage protocols were for chest pain (42%), abdominal pain (31%), and shortness of breath (22%). In 11 cases (12%), care was changed as a result of triage POCT. In 12 cases (13%), triage level was changed. The triage nurse found POCT helpful in 93% of cases. CONCLUSION: In this ED, triage POCT was a helpful adjunct at ED triage and resulted in immediate care (transfer to an ED room) in one in eight cases. Therefore, POCT at triage may be a useful adjunct to improve patient safety, particularly in crowded EDs.
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spelling pubmed-61231002018-09-10 The Effect of Point-of-Care Testing at Triage: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia Abualenain, Jameel Almarzouki, Ahd Saimaldaher, Rawan Zocchi, Mark S. Pines, Jesse M. West J Emerg Med International Medicine INTRODUCTION: Prolonged waiting times during episodes of emergency department (ED) crowding are associated with poor outcomes. Point-of-care testing (POCT) at ED triage prior to physician evaluation may help identify critically ill patients. We studied the impact of ED POCT in a single ED with a high degree of crowding for patients with high-risk complaints who were triaged as non-critically ill. METHODS: We conducted the study from April–July 2017 at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Patients with one of seven complaints received triage POCT. The primary outcome was whether POCT results at triage resulted in immediate transfer of the patient from the waiting room into the ED. Secondary outcomes were whether the triage nurse felt that the POCT results were useful, and whether triage POCT changed triage acuity. We used simple descriptive statistics to summarize the data. RESULTS: A total of 94 patients were enrolled and received i-STAT® POCT. The most common symptoms and triage protocols were for chest pain (42%), abdominal pain (31%), and shortness of breath (22%). In 11 cases (12%), care was changed as a result of triage POCT. In 12 cases (13%), triage level was changed. The triage nurse found POCT helpful in 93% of cases. CONCLUSION: In this ED, triage POCT was a helpful adjunct at ED triage and resulted in immediate care (transfer to an ED room) in one in eight cases. Therefore, POCT at triage may be a useful adjunct to improve patient safety, particularly in crowded EDs. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2018-09 2018-07-26 /pmc/articles/PMC6123100/ /pubmed/30202503 http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2018.6.38217 Text en Copyright: © 2018 Abualenain et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle International Medicine
Abualenain, Jameel
Almarzouki, Ahd
Saimaldaher, Rawan
Zocchi, Mark S.
Pines, Jesse M.
The Effect of Point-of-Care Testing at Triage: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia
title The Effect of Point-of-Care Testing at Triage: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_full The Effect of Point-of-Care Testing at Triage: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr The Effect of Point-of-Care Testing at Triage: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Point-of-Care Testing at Triage: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_short The Effect of Point-of-Care Testing at Triage: An Observational Study in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia
title_sort effect of point-of-care testing at triage: an observational study in a teaching hospital in saudi arabia
topic International Medicine
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6123100/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30202503
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2018.6.38217
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