Diagnosis and mortality of emergency department patients in the North Denmark region

Algorithm for forming hospital care episodes by combining attendance contacts in the Danish National Patient Register: A methodological consensus-driven study

BACKGROUND

Studying complete hospital care episodes from register data, for instance when assessing length of stay, discharges and readmissions, can cause methodological difficulties due to the lack of a contact linkage identifier. We aimed to develop an algorithm combining sequential attendance contacts in the Danish National Patient Register (DNPR) into hospital care episodes, spanning the entire duration and all contacts from hospital arrival to departure.

METHODS

The algorithm was developed under the consensus of experts from research institutions across Denmark. It reads in second and third version DNPR data, deletes contacts without attendance, duplicates elective outpatient contacts corresponding to attendance dates and modifies contact types (e.g. repeated acute contacts), among others. Thereafter, sequential contacts within 4 h are marked as the same hospital care episode, consisting of one or more DNPR contact. We tested the algorithm in a data set of adults living in Denmark during 2013-2021 and compared different hourly cut-offs.

RESULTS

For the demonstration, we included 120.2 m contacts from 5.7 m persons, combined into 105.9 m hospital care episodes. Of the hospital care episodes, 6.4% were acute inpatients, 8.3% were acute outpatients, 2.0% were elective inpatients and 83.3% were elective outpatients. Using 4 h as our recommendation, 3-h, 5-h and 6-h cut-offs for contact combining revealed only minor differences in the number of hospital care episodes (<0.4%), whereas 12-h (<1.7%) and 24-h cut-offs (<43.1%) had a larger impact.

CONCLUSIONS

The algorithm automates data reading, modification and linkage of sequential attendance contacts. The algorithm can be initiated as a SAS macro and is available from an online repository.

Is being a refugee associated with increased 30-day mortality after visiting the emergency department? A register-based cohort study using Danish data

AIM

Refugees face many challenges that could lead to disparity in quality of care from the health-care system compared with native Danes. These challenges could be language barriers, cultural differences, mental health co-morbidities and socio-economic status (SES). The aim of this study was to compare the 30-day mortality of refugees and native Danes after visiting the emergency department (ED) at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

METHODS

In this register-based cohort study linking clinical and socio-demographic data, we included all visits to a major Danish ED from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2018. According to the predefined analysis plan, we present non-parametric Kaplan-Meier plots and propensity score-weighted analysis.

RESULTS

We included 29,257 eligible unique patients of whom 631 were refugees. In the 30-day time period after discharge from the ED, 11 deaths occurred in the group of refugees, resulting in a Kaplan-Meier estimate of 1.8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.7-2.8), and 1638 deaths occurred in the group of Danes, resulting in a Kaplan-Meier estimate of 5.9% (95% CI 5.6-6.1). The adjusted 30-day mortality risk difference was 1.6 percentage points (95% CI -2.0 to -1.2 percentage points) lower for refugees compared to native Danes. The 30-day mortality risk difference decreased from approximately 4 to 1.6 percentage points in the adjusted analysis. Thus, there were 16 fewer deaths among refugees within 30 days per 1000 discharged from the ED compared with native Danes when adjusting for age, sex, SES and co-morbidities.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that refugees had a lower 30-day mortality after visiting the ED compared with native Danes.

Deaths Among Ambulance Patients Released from the Emergency Department Within the First 24 Hours With Nonspecific Diagnoses - Expected or Not?

BACKGROUND

Emergency patients are frequently assigned nonspecific diagnoses. Nonspecific diagnoses describe observations or symptoms and are found in chapters R and Z of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10). Patients with such diagnoses have relatively low mortality, but due to patient volume, the absolute number of deaths is substantial. However, information on cause of short-term mortality is limited.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate whether death could be expected for ambulance patients brought to the emergency department (ED) after a 1-1-2 call, released with a nonspecific ICD-10 diagnosis within 24 h, and who subsequently died within 30 days.

METHODS

Retrospective medical record review of adult 1-1-2 emergency ambulance patients brought to an ED in the North Denmark Region during 2017-2021. Patients were divided into three categories: unexpected death, expected death (terminal illness), and miscellaneous. Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) was assessed.

RESULTS

We included 492 patients. Mortality was distributed as follows: Unexpected death 59.2% (n = 291), expected death (terminal illness) 25.8% (n = 127), and miscellaneous 15.0% (n = 74). Patients who died unexpectedly were old (median age of 82 years) and had CCI 1-2 (58.1%); 43.0% used at least five daily prescription drugs, and they were severely acutely ill upon arrival (24.7% with red triage, 60.1% died within 24 h).

CONCLUSIONS

More than half of ambulance patients released within 24 h from the ED with nonspecific diagnoses, and who subsequently died within 30 days, died unexpectedly. One-fourth died from a pre-existing terminal illness. Patients dying unexpectedly were old, treated with polypharmacy, and often life-threateningly sick at arrival.

Acute patients discharged without an established diagnosis: risk of mortality and readmission of nonspecific diagnoses compared to disease-specific diagnoses

BACKGROUND

Nonspecific discharge diagnoses after acute hospital courses represent patients discharged without an established cause of their complaints. These patients should have a low risk of adverse outcomes as serious conditions should have been ruled out. We aimed to investigate the mortality and readmissions following nonspecific discharge diagnoses compared to disease-specific diagnoses and assessed different nonspecific subgroups.

METHODS

Register-based cohort study including hospital courses beginning in emergency departments across 3 regions of Denmark during March 2019-February 2020. We identified nonspecific diagnoses from the R- and Z03-chapter in the ICD-10 classification and excluded injuries, among others-remaining diagnoses were considered disease-specific. Outcomes were 30-day mortality and readmission, the groups were compared by Cox regression hazard ratios (HR), unadjusted and adjusted for socioeconomics, comorbidity, administrative information and laboratory results. We stratified into short (3-<12 h) or lengthier (12-168 h) hospital courses.

RESULTS

We included 192,185 hospital courses where nonspecific discharge diagnoses accounted for 50.7% of short and 25.9% of lengthier discharges. The cumulative risk of mortality for nonspecific vs. disease-specific discharge diagnoses was 0.6% (0.6-0.7%) vs. 0.8% (0.7-0.9%) after short and 1.6% (1.5-1.7%) vs. 2.6% (2.5-2.7%) after lengthier courses with adjusted HRs of 0.97 (0.83-1.13) and 0.94 (0.85-1.05), respectively. The cumulative risk of readmission for nonspecific vs. disease-specific discharge diagnoses was 7.3% (7.1-7.5%) vs. 8.4% (8.2-8.6%) after short and 11.1% (10.8-11.5%) vs. 13.7% (13.4-13.9%) after lengthier courses with adjusted HRs of 0.94 (0.90-0.98) and 0.95 (0.91-0.99), respectively. We identified 50 clinical subgroups of nonspecific diagnoses, of which Abdominal pain (n = 12,462; 17.1%) and Chest pain (n = 9,599; 13.1%) were the most frequent. The subgroups described differences in characteristics with mean age 41.9 to 80.8 years and mean length of stay 7.1 to 59.5 h, and outcomes with < 0.2-8.1% risk of 30-day mortality and 3.5-22.6% risk of 30-day readmission.

CONCLUSIONS

In unadjusted analyses, nonspecific diagnoses had a lower risk of mortality and readmission than disease-specific diagnoses but had a similar risk after adjustments. We identified 509 clinical subgroups of nonspecific diagnoses with vastly different characteristics and prognosis.

Association between mortality and phone-line waiting time for non-urgent medical care: a Danish registry-based cohort study

BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE

Telephone calls are often patients' first healthcare service contact, outcomes associated with waiting times are unknown.

OBJECTIVES

Examine the association between waiting time to answer for a medical helpline and 1- and 30-day mortality.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Registry-based cohort study using phone calls data (January 2014 to December 2018) to the Capital Region of Denmark's medical helpline. The service refers to hospital assessment/treatment, dispatches ambulances, or suggests self-care guidance.

EXPOSURE

Waiting time was grouped into the following time intervals in accordance with political service targets for waiting time in the Capital Region: <30 s, 0:30-2:59, 3-9:59, and ≥10 min.

OUTCOME MEASURES AND ANALYSIS

The association between time intervals and 1- and 30-day mortality per call was calculated using logistic regression with strata defined by age and sex.

MAIN RESULTS

In total, 1 244 252 callers were included, phoning 3 956 243 times, and 78% of calls waited <10 min. Among callers, 30-day mortality was 1% (16 560 deaths). For calls by females aged 85-110 30-day mortality increased with longer waiting time, particularly within the first minute: 9.6% for waiting time <30 s, 10.8% between 30 s and 1 minute and 9.1% between 1 and 2 minutes. For calls by males aged 85-110 30-day mortality was 11.1%, 12.9% and 11.1%, respectively. Additionally, among calls with a Charlson score of 2 or higher, longer waiting times were likewise associated with increased mortality. For calls by females aged 85-110 30-day mortality was 11.6% for waiting time <30 s, 12.9% between 30 s and 1 minute and 11.2% between 1 and 2 minutes. For calls by males aged 85-110 30-day mortality was 12.7%, 14.1% and 12.6%, respectively. Fewer ambulances were dispatched with longer waiting times (4%/2%) with waiting times <30 s and >10 min.

CONCLUSION

Longer waiting times for telephone contact to a medical helpline were associated with increased 1- and 30-day mortality within the first minute, especially among elderly or more comorbid callers.

Risks of Early Mortality and Associated Factors at Adult Emergency Department of Jimma University Medical Center

Introduction

Mortality in the emergency department is still high in developing countries with resources scarce. Most of emergency department mortality occurred within the first three days; the majority of these deaths are avoidable with proper intervention. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the mortality risks and therapeutic benefits of early and late death.

Methods

Case-control study approach with 87 cases and 174 controls (case to control ratio of 1:2) was used on 261 study participants. Data were extracted from the patient charts using a pretested extraction tool. Then, checked data were entered into Epi-data manager 4.6 versions and analyzed using SPSS 25 versions. Binary logistic regression was used to construct bivariate and multivariable analyses following the descriptive analysis. Finally, a predictor variable in the multivariate logistic regression was deemed to have a significant association if its P-value was less than 0.05 at a 95% confidence level.

Results

Patients who were triaged into the red zone had a 2.3-fold greater risk of dying early than those who were placed in another triage category [(AOR=2.3; 95% CI: 1.10, 5.55) P=0.001]. Besides, having cardiovascular disease (AOR=4.79; 95% CI: 1.73, 13.27), age ≥65 years [(AOR=3.2; 95% CI: 1.74, 7.23) P=0.003)], having rural residency (AOR=6.57; 95% CI: 1.39, 31.13), and having been diagnosed with respiratory failure [(AOR=3.2; 95% CI: 1.04, 7.69), P=0.013)] were associated with early mortality.

Conclusion

The common causes of early mortality were respiratory failure, cardiovascular disease, and road traffic accident. Being aged, having rural residence, being triaged into red zone, and diagnosed for respiratory failure and cardiac failure increase early mortality compared with late death.

Current patterns of care at adult emergency department in Ethiopian tertiary university hospital

BACKGROUND

The complexity and demands of emergency healthcare service are continuously increasing, and it is important to regularly track the patterns of care at the emergency department (ED).

METHODOLOGY

A retrospective study was conducted at the ED of the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (UoGCSH) from April 1 to June 30, 2021. Ethical approval was obtained from the Emergency and Critical Care Directorate of UoGCSH. Data was collected from the emergency registry and descriptive analysis was performed.

RESULTS

A total of 5232 patients have visited and triaged at the ED. All patients who visited the ED have received triage service within 5 min of arrival. The average length of stay at the ED was 3 days. About 79.1% of patients have stayed at the ED beyond 24 h, and the unavailability of beds at admission areas was responsible for 62% of delays. Mortality rate at the ED was 1.4%, and male to female ratio of death was 1.2 to 1. Shock (all types combined), pneumonia with/without COVID-19, and poisoning were the leading causes of death at the ED which were responsible for 32.5%, 15.5%, and 12.7% of deaths respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Triage has been done within the recommended time after patient arrival. However, many patients were staying at the ED for an unacceptably prolonged time. Unavailability of beds at the admission areas, waiting long for senior clinicians' decisions, delays in investigation results, and lack of medical equipment were the causes of delayed discharge from the ED. Shock, pneumonia, and poisoning were the leading causes of death. Healthcare administrators should address the lack of medical resources, and clinicians should provide timely clinical decision and investigation results.

More emergency patients presenting with chest pain

INTRODUCTION

Throughout recent years the demand for prehospital emergency care has increased significantly. Non-traumatic chest pain is one of the most frequent complaints. Our aim was to investigate the trend in frequency of the most urgent ambulance patients with chest pain, subsequent acute myocardial infarction (AMI) diagnoses, and 48-hour and 30-day mortality of both groups.

METHODS

Population-based historic cohort study in the North Denmark Region during 2012-2018 including chest pain patients transported to hospital by highest urgency level ambulance following a 1-1-2 emergency call. Primary diagnoses (ICD-10) were retrieved from the regional Patient Administrative System, and descriptive statistics (distribution, frequency) performed. We evaluated time trends using linear regression, and mortality (48 hours and 30 days) was assessed by the Kaplan Meier estimator.

RESULTS

We included 18,971 chest pain patients, 33.9% (n = 6,430) were diagnosed with"Diseases of the circulatory system" followed by the non-specific R- (n = 5,288, 27.8%) and Z-diagnoses (n = 3,634; 19.2%). AMI was diagnosed in 1,967 patients (10.4%), most were non-ST-elevation AMI (39.7%). Frequency of chest pain patients and AMI increased 255 and 22 patients per year respectively, whereas the AMI proportion remained statistically stable, with a tendency towards a decrease in the last years. Mortality at 48 hours and day 30 in chest pain patients was 0.7% (95% CI 0.5% to 0.8%) and 2.4% (95% CI 2.1% to 2.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

The frequency of chest pain patients brought to hospital during 2012-2018 increased. One-tenth were diagnosed with AMI, and the proportion of AMI patients was stable. Almost 1 in of 4 high urgency level ambulances was sent to chest pain patients. Only 1 of 10 patients with chest pain had AMI, and overall mortality was low. Thus, monitoring the number of chest pain patients and AMI diagnoses should be considered to evaluate ambulance utilisation and triage.

Diagnoses and mortality among prehospital emergency patients calling 112 with unclear problems: a population-based cohort study from Denmark

BACKGROUND

Patients calling for an emergency ambulance and assessed as presenting with 'unclear problem' account for a considerable part of all emergency calls. Previous studies have demonstrated that these patients are at increased risk for unfavourable outcomes. A deeper insight into the underlying diagnoses and outcomes is essential to improve prehospital treatment. We aimed to investigate which of these diagnoses contributed most to the total burden of diseases in terms of numbers of deaths together with 1- and 30-day mortality.

METHODS

A historic regional population-based observational cohort study from the years 2016 to 2018. Diagnoses were classified according to the World Health Organisation ICD-10 System (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th edition). The ICD-10 chapters, R ('symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified)' and Z ('factors influencing health status and contact with health services") were combined and designated "non-specific diagnoses". Poisson regression with robust variance estimation was used to estimate proportions of mortality in percentages with 95% confidence intervals, crude and adjusted for age, sex and comorbidities.

RESULTS

Diagnoses were widespread among the ICD-10 chapters, and the most were 'non-specific diagnoses' (40.4%), 'circulatory diseases' (9.6%), 'injuries and poisonings' (9.4%) and 'respiratory diseases' (6.9%). The diagnoses contributing most to the total burden of deaths (n = 554) within 30 days were 'circulatory diseases' (n = 148, 26%) followed by 'non-specific diagnoses' (n = 88, 16%) 'respiratory diseases' (n = 85, 15%), 'infections' (n = 54, 10%) and 'digestive disease' (n = 39, 7%). Overall mortality was 2.3% (1-day) and 7.1% (30-days). The risk of mortality was highly associated with age.

CONCLUSION

This study found that almost half of the patients brought to the hospital after calling 112 with an 'unclear problem' were discharged with a 'non-specific diagnosis' which might seem trivial but should be explored more as these contributed the second-highest to the total number of deaths after 30 days only exceeded by 'circulatory diseases'.

Assessed and discharged - diagnosis, mortality and revisits in short-term emergency department contacts

Background

Emergency departments (EDs) experience an increasing number of patients. High patient flow are incentives for short duration of ED stay which may pose a challenge for patient diagnostics and care implying risk of ED revisits or increased mortality. Four hours are often used as a target time to decide whether to admit or discharge a patient.

Objective

To investigate and compare the diagnostic pattern, risk of revisits and short-term mortality for ED patients with a length of stay of less than 4 h (visits) with 4–24 h stay (short stay visits).

Methods

Population-based cohort study of patients contacting three EDs in the North Denmark Region during 2014–2016, excluding injured patients. Main diagnoses, number of revisits within 72 h of the initial contact and mortality were outcomes. Data on age, sex, mortality, time of admission and ICD-10 diagnostic chapter were obtained from the Danish Civil Registration System and the regional patient administrative system. Descriptive statistics were applied and Kaplan Meier mortality estimates with 95% CI were calculated.

Results

Seventy-nine thousand three hundred forty-one short-term ED contacts were included, visits constituted 60%. Non-specific diagnoses (i.e. symptoms and signs and other factors) were the most frequent diagnoses among both visits and short stay visits groups (67% vs 49%). Revisits were more frequent for visits compared to short stay visits (5.8% vs 4.2%). Circulatory diseases displayed the highest 0–48-h mortality within the visits and infections in the short stay visits (11.8% (95%CI: 10.4–13.5) and (3.5% (95%CI: 2.6–4.7)). 30-day mortality were 1.3% (95%CI: 1.2–1.5) for visits and 1.8% (95%CI: 1.7–2.0) for short stay visits. The 30-day mortality of the ED revisits with an initial visit was 1.0% (0.8–1.3), vs 0.7% (0.7–0.8) for no revisits, while 30-day mortality nearly doubled for ED revisits with an initial short stay visit (2.5% (1.9–3.2)).

Conclusions

Most patients were within the visit group. Non-specific diagnoses constituted the majority of diagnoses given. Mortality was higher among patients with short stay visits but increased for both groups with ED revisits. This suggest that diagnostics are challenged by short time targets.

Prevalence of COVID-19 Mimics in the Emergency Department

Objective Due to the lack of specific clinical manifestations and symptoms, it is difficult to distinguish COVID-19 from mimics. A common pitfall is to rush to make a diagnosis when encountering a patient with COVID-19-like symptoms. The present study describes a series of COVID-19 mimics using an outpatient database collected from a designated COVID-19 healthcare facility in Tokyo, Japan. Methods We established an emergency room (ER) tailored specifically for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 called the "COVID-ER." In this single-center retrospective cohort study, we enrolled patients who visited the COVID-ER from February 1 to September 5, 2020. The outcomes included the prevalence of COVID-19, admission, potentially fatal diseases and final diagnosis. Results We identified 2,555 eligible patients. The median age was 38 (interquartile range, 26-57) years old. During the study period, the prevalence of COVID-19 was 17.9% (457/2,555). Non-COVID-19 diagnoses accounted for 82.1% of all cases. The common cold had the highest prevalence and accounted for 33.0% of all final diagnoses, followed by gastroenteritis (9.4%), urinary tract infections (3.8%), tonsillitis (2.9%), heat stroke (2.6%) and bacterial pneumonia (2.1%). The prevalence of potentially fatal diseases was 14.2% (298/2,098) among non-COVID-19 patients. Conclusion Several potentially fatal diseases remain masked among the wave of COVID-19 mimics. It is imperative that a thorough differential diagnostic panel be considered prior to the rendering of a COVID-19 diagnosis.

2021 Guideline for the Management of COPD Exacerbations: Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey (EMAT) / Turkish Thoracic Society (TTS) Clinical Practice Guideline Task Force

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an important public health problem that manifests with exacerbations and causes serious mortality and morbidity in both developed and developing countries. COPD exacerbations usually present to emergency departments, where these patients are diagnosed and treated. Therefore, the Emergency Medicine Association of Turkey and the Turkish Thoracic Society jointly wanted to implement a guideline that evaluates the management of COPD exacerbations according to the current literature and provides evidence-based recommendations. In the management of COPD exacerbations, we aim to support the decision-making process of clinicians dealing with these patients in the emergency setting.

A predictive model for serious adverse events in adults with acute poisoning in prehospital and hospital care

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to design a risk model with variables determined before hospital arrival to predict the risk of serious adverse events in patients with acute poisoning.

METHODS

A preliminary prospective, multicentre cohort study of adults with prehospital diagnosis of acute intoxication was conducted. The study was carried out in the Public Health System of the Community of Castilla-Leon (Spain), including seven advanced life support units and five hospitals, between April 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019. People aged >18 years with a main prehospital diagnosis of acute poisoning admitted to a referral hospital on advanced life support were included. The main outcome measure was prehospital and hospital serious adverse events in patients with acute poisoning.

RESULTS

We included 221 patients, with a median age of 47 years (interquartile range: 33-61). The most frequent cause of poisoning was psychopharmaceuticals (111 cases, 49.8%): 38 (17.2%) patients had a serious adverse event, with a hospital mortality of 4.1% (nine cases) in the 30 days after the index event. The final model included age ≥65 years (odds ratio [OR]: 9.59, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.48-26.45; p < 0.001), oxygen saturation/fraction of inspired oxygen index ≤300 (OR: 15.03, 95% CI: 5.74-39.33; p < 0.001), and point-of-care lactate ≥4 mmol/L (OR: 7.68, 95% CI: 2.88-20.45; p < 0.001). The poisoning Early Warning Score was constructed from these three variables, and 1 point was assigned to each variable. The area under the curve of the score was 0.896 (95% CI: 0.82-0.96; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The poisoning Early Warning Score may help in decision-making and promote early identification of high-risk patients with acute poisoning in the prehospital context.

Point-of-care ultrasound of the heart and lungs in patients with respiratory failure: a pragmatic randomized controlled multicenter trial

BACKGROUND

Point-of-care ultrasound is a focus oriented tool for differentiating among cardiopulmonary diseases. Its value in the hands of emergency physicians, with various ultrasound experience, remains uncertain. We tested the hypothesis that, in emergency department patients with signs of respiratory failure, a point-of-care cardiopulmonary ultrasound along with standard clinical examination, performed by emergency physicians with various ultrasound experience would increase the proportion of patients with presumptive diagnoses in agreement with final diagnoses at four hours after admission compared to standard clinical examination alone.

METHODS

In this prospective multicenter superiority trial in Danish emergency departments we randomly assigned patients presenting with acute signs of respiratory failure to intervention or control in a 1:1 ratio by block randomization. Patients received point-of-care cardiopulmonary ultrasound examination within four hours from admission. Ultrasound results were unblinded for the treating emergency physician in the intervention group. Final diagnoses and treatment were determined by blinded review of the medical record after the patients´ discharge.

RESULTS

From October 9, 2015 to April 5, 2017, we randomized 218 patients and included 211 in the final analyses. At four hours we found; no change in the proportion of patients with presumptive diagnoses in agreement with final diagnoses; intervention 79·25% (95% CI 70·3-86·0), control 77·1% (95% CI 68·0-84·3), an increased proportion of appropriate treatment prescribed; intervention 79·3% (95% CI 70·3-86·0), control 65·7% (95% CI 56·0-74·3) and of patients who spent less than 1 day in hospital; intervention n = 42 (39·6%, 25·8 38·4), control n = 25 (23·8%, 16·5-33·0). No adverse events were reported.

CONCLUSIONS

Focused cardiopulmonary ultrasound added to standard clinical examination in patients with signs of respiratory failure had no impact on the diagnostic accuracy, but significantly increased the proportion of appropriate treatment prescribed and the proportion of patients who spent less than 1 day in hospital.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ , number NCT02550184 .

Longitudinal course of GDF15 levels before acute hospitalization and death in the general population

Growth differentiation 15 (GDF15) is a potential novel biomarker of biological aging. To separate the effects of chronological age and birth cohort from biological age, longitudinal studies investigating the associations of GDF15 levels with adverse health outcomes are needed. We investigated changes in GDF15 levels over 10 years in an age-stratified sample of the general population and their relation to the risk of acute hospitalization and death. Serum levels of GDF15 were measured three times in 5-year intervals in 2176 participants aged 30, 40, 50, or 60 years from the Danish population-based DAN-MONICA cohort. We assessed the association of single and repeated GDF15 measurements with the risk of non-traumatic acute hospitalizations. We tested whether changes in GDF15 levels over 10 years differed according to the frequency of hospitalizations within 2 years or survival within 20 years, after the last GDF15 measurement. The change in GDF15 levels over time was dependent on age and sex. Higher GDF15 levels and a greater increase in GDF15 levels were associated with an increased risk of acute hospitalization in adjusted Cox regression analyses. Participants with more frequent admissions within 2 years, and those who died within 20 years, after the last GDF15 measurement already had elevated GDF15 levels at baseline and experienced greater increases in GDF15 levels during the study. The change in GDF15 levels was associated with changes in C-reactive protein and biomarkers of kidney, liver, and cardiac function. Monitoring of GDF15 starting in middle-aged could be valuable for the prediction of adverse health outcomes.

A two-year review of adult emergency department mortality at Tikur Anbesa specialized tertiary hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Adult emergency department mortality remains high in resource-limited lower-income countries. The majority of deaths occur within the first 24 h of presentation to the emergency department. Many of these mortality's can be alleviated with appropriate interventions. This study was aimed to assess the magnitude, cause, and factors related to very early mortality in patients presented to the emergency department of Tikur Anbesa Specialized Tertiary Hospital, Ethiopia from March 2018 to 2020.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional retrospective chart review. Retrospective data were collected from the records of all patients who died within 72 h of emergency department presentation from March 2018 to 2020. Data entered using Epi data 4.2.1 and analyzed using SPSS Version 23. Using the Chi-square test, binary and multiple logistic regression analysis were carried out to measure the association of variables of interest and very early emergency mortality. P-value < 0.05, odds ratio with 95% CI were used to identify the significant factors.

RESULTS

Between March 2018 to 2020, 30,086 patients visited the ED and 604 patients died within 72 h of presentation (274 died within 24 h and 232 within > 24-72 h). Shock (36.7%) and road traffic accidents (3.16%) were the major causes of death. Triage category red AOR 0.23 95% CI 0.1-0.55 and duration of illness 4-24 h AOR 0.47 95% CI 0.26-0.87 were significantly associated with decreased very early emergency department mortality. Meanwhile, co-morbid disease HIV AIDS AOR 2.72 95% CI 1.01-7.30 and residence Addis Ababa AOR 2.78 95% CI 1.36-5.68 and Oromia AOR 3.23 95% CI 1.58-6.54 were found significantly associated with increased very early emergency department mortality.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The mortality burden of a road traffic accident and shock in the TASTH is significant and the magnitude of ED mortality differs between these groups. Residence Addis Ababa and Oromia, triage category red, co-morbid disease HIV AIDS, and duration of symptom 4-24 h were significantly associated with early emergency department mortality. Early detection and intervention are required to minimize emergency mortality.

How comorbidities impact Early Warning Score as a predictor of 7-day mortality

BACKGROUND

Early Warning Score systems are used to monitor patients at risk of deterioration. How comorbidities impact Early Warning Score's ability to predict short-term mortality in the emergency department is not fully elucidated. The aim of the study was to investigate how comorbidities impact Early Warning Score as predictor of 7-day mortality.

METHODS

This is an observational cohort study of adult emergency department patients attending one of the five emergency departments in Central Region Denmark from 1 March 2015 to 31 May 2015. Charlson Comorbidity Index was used as a measure of comorbidities. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio for 7-day mortality. Patients were compared in three groups: Charlson Comorbidity Index: 0, 1-2, 3+.

RESULTS

A total of 30 060 adult patients attended one of the five emergency departments. Nineteen thousand one hundred twenty-three patients were included. Charlson Comorbidity Index 3+ patients presenting with Early Warning Score 0, 1-2 or 3-4 had significantly higher odds ratio of 7-day mortality compared to Charlson Comorbidity Index 0 patients with equal Early Warning Score. For patients with Early Warning Score 5+, Charlson Comorbidity Index -status had no significant impact on 7-day mortality after adjusting for age.

CONCLUSION

In patients presenting with lower acuity (Early Warning Score 0-4) Charlson Comorbidity Index has a significant impact on 7-day mortality regardless of Early Warning Score. Including Charlson Comorbidity Index status in Early Warning Score or adjusting for Charlson Comorbidity Index -status could increase the predictive value of Early Warning Score in predicting 7-day mortality.

Patient characteristics and healthcare utilisation among Danish patients with chronic conditions: a nationwide cohort study in general practice and hospitals

Background

The complexity of caring for patients with chronic conditions necessitates new models of integrated care to accommodate an increasing demand. To inform the development of integrated care models, it is essential to map patients’ use of healthcare resources. In this nationwide registry-based cohort study, we describe and compare patient characteristics and healthcare utilisation between Danish patients with chronic conditions in general practice follow-up and in hospital outpatient follow-up.

Methods

On 1 January 2016, we identified 250,402 patients registered in 2006–2015 with a hospital diagnosis of atrial fibrillation/flutter, congestive heart failure, chronic liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. By linkage to national social and health registries, patient characteristics and 12-month healthcare utilisation were extracted. Incidence rates of health care utilisation were compared between patients with chronic conditions in general practice follow-up and patients in hospital outpatient follow-up using negative binomial regression.

Results

Across all five conditions, the largest proportions of patients were in general practice follow-up (range = 59–87%). Patients in hospital outpatient follow-up had higher rates of exacerbation-related admissions (adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) range = 1.3 to 2.8) and total length of stay (IRR range = 1.2 to 2.2). For these five conditions, all-cause admissions and lengths of stay, general practice daytime and out-of-hours contacts, and municipal home nursing contacts were similar between follow-up groups or higher among patients in general practice follow-up. The exception was patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, where patients in hospital outpatient follow-up had higher utilisation of healthcare resources.

Conclusions

Patients in general practice follow-up accounted for the largest proportion of total healthcare utilisation, but patients in hospital outpatient follow-up were characterised by high exacerbation rates. Enhanced integration of chronic care may be of most benefit if patients in general practice follow-up are targeted, but it is also likely to have an impact on exacerbation rates among patients in hospital outpatient follow-up.

Evaluation of emergency departments visits in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

BACKGROUND

The emergency department (ED) is a crucial encounter point in cancer care. Yet, data on the causes of ED visits are limited in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). Therefore, we evaluated ED visits in patients treated with ICIs in attempt to determine the predisposing factors.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective chart review on adult cancer patients treated with ICIs for any type of cancer in the Hacettepe University Cancer Center. The data on ED visits after the first dose of ICIs to 6 months after the last cycle of ICIs were collected.

RESULTS

A total of 221 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 58.46 ± 13.87 years, and 65.6% of patients were males. Melanoma was the most common diagnosis (27.6%), followed by kidney and lung cancers. Eighty-three of these patients (37.6%) had at least one emergency department (ED) visit. Most of the ED visits were related to symptoms attributable to the disease burden itself, while immune-related adverse events comprised less than 10% of these visits. While baseline Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, age, polypharmacy, concomitant chemotherapy, eosinophilia, and lactate dehydrogenase levels did not significantly increase the risk, patients with regular opioid use and baseline neutrophilia (> 8000/mm³) had a statistically significant increased risk of visiting the ED (p = 0.001 and 0.19, respectively). These two factors remained significant in the multivariate analyses.

CONCLUSION

In this study, almost 40% of ICI-treated patients had ED visits. Collaboration with other specialties like emergency medicine is vital for improving the care of patients receiving immunotherapy.

Non-specific diagnoses are frequent in patients hospitalized after calling 112 and their mortality is high - a register-based Danish cohort study

Background

The number of patients calling for an ambulance increases. A considerable number of patients receive a non-specific diagnosis at discharge from the hospital, and this could imply less serious acute conditions, but the mortality has only scarcely been studied. The aim of this study was to examine the most frequent sub-diagnoses among patients with hospital non-specific diagnoses after calling 112 and their subsequent mortality.

Methods

A historical cohort study of patients brought to the hospital by ambulance after calling 112 in 2007–2014 and diagnosed with a non-specific diagnosis, chapter R or Z, in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10). 1-day and 30-day mortality was analyzed by survival analyses and compared by the log-rank test.

Results

We included 74,847 ambulance runs in 53,937 unique individuals. The most frequent diagnoses were ‘unspecified disease’ (Z039), constituting 47.0% (n 35,279). In children 0–9 years old, ‘febrile convulsions’ was the most frequent non-specific diagnosis used in 54.3% (n 1602). Overall, 1- and 30-day mortality was 2.2% (n 1205) and 6.0% (n 3258). The highest mortality was in the diagnostic group ‘suspected cardiovascular disease’ (Z035) and ‘unspecified disease’ (Z039) with 1-day mortality 2.6% (n 43) and 2.4% (n 589), and 30 day mortality of 6.32% (n 104) and 8.1% (n 1975).

Conclusion

Among patients calling an ambulance and discharged with non-specific diagnoses the 1- and 30-day mortality, despite modest mortality percentages lead to a high number of deaths.

Patient experience of severe acute dyspnoea and relief during treatment in ambulances: a prospective observational study

Background

Acute dyspnoea is common among ambulance patients, but little is known of the patients’ experience of symptom. We aimed to investigate ambulance patients initial perceived intensity of acute dyspnoea, and whether they experienced relief during prehospital treatment. Furthermore, to investigate the validity and feasibility of using a subjective dyspnoea score in the ambulance, and its association with objectively measured vital signs.

Methods

We performed a prospective observational study in the North Denmark Region from 1. July 2017 to 30. March 2019. We studied patients over the age of 18 to whom an ambulance was dispatched. Patients with acute dyspnoea assessed either at the emergency call or by ambulance professionals on scene were included. Patients were asked to assess dyspnoea on a 0 to 10 verbal numeric rating scale at the primary contact with the ambulance personnel and immediately before release at the scene or arrival at the hospital. Patients received usual prehospital medical treatment. We used visual inspection and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test, to assess dyspnoea scores and change hereof. Scatterplots and linear regression analyses were used to assess associations between the dyspnoea score and vital signs.

Results

We included 3199 patients with at least one dyspnoea score. Of these, 2219 (69%) had two registered dyspnoea scores. The initial median dyspnoea score for all patients was median 8 (interquartile range 6–10). In 1676 (76%) of patients with two scores, the first score decreased from 8 (6–9) to 4 (2–5) during prehospital treatment. The score was unchanged for 370 (17%) and increased for 51 (2%) patients. Higher respiratory rate, blood pressure, and heart rate was seen with higher dyspnoea scores whereas blood oxygen saturation lowered.

Conclusions

We found that acute dyspnoea scored by ambulance patients, was high on a verbal numerical rating scale but decreased before arrival at hospital, suggesting relief of symptoms. The acute dyspnoea score was statistically associated with vital signs, but of limited clinical relevance; this stresses the importance of patients’ experience of symptoms. To this end, the dyspnoea scale appears feasible in the prehospital setting.

Acute care pathways for patients calling the out-of-hours services

BACKGROUND

In Western countries, patients with acute illness or injury out-of-hours (OOH) can call either emergency medical services (EMS) for emergencies or primary care services (OOH-PC) in less urgent situations. Callers initially choose which service to contact; whether this choice reflect the intended differences in urgency and severity is unknown. Hospital diagnoses and admission rates following an OOH service contact could elucidate this. We aimed to investigate and compare the prevalence of patient contacts, subsequent hospital contacts, and the age-related pattern of hospital diagnoses following an out-of-hours contact to EMS or OOH-PC services in Denmark.

METHODS

Population-based observational cohort study including patients from two Danish regions with contact to EMS or OOH-PC in 2016. Hospital contacts were defined as short (< 24 h) or admissions (≥24 h) on the date of OOH service contact. Both regions have EMS, whereas the North Denmark Region has a general practitioner cooperative (GPC) as OOH-PC service and the Capital Region of Copenhagen the Medical Helpline 1813 (MH-1813), together representing all Danish OOH service types. Calling an OOH service is mandatory prior to a hospital contact outside office hours.

RESULTS

OOH-PC handled 91% (1,107,297) of all contacts (1,219,963). Subsequent hospital contacts were most frequent for EMS contacts (46-54%) followed by MH-1813 (41%) and GPC contacts (9%). EMS had more admissions (52-56%) than OOH-PC. For both EMS and OOH-PC, short hospital contacts often concerned injuries (32-63%) and non-specific diagnoses (20-45%). The proportion of circulatory disease was almost twice as large following EMS (13-17%) compared to OOH-PC (7-9%) in admitted patients, whereas respiratory diseases (11-14%), injuries (15-22%) and non-specific symptoms (22-29%) were more equally distributed. Generally, admitted patients were older.

CONCLUSIONS

EMS contacts were fewer, but with a higher percentage of hospital contacts, admissions and prevalence of circulatory diseases compared to OOH-PC, perhaps indicating that patients more often contact EMS in case of severe disease. However, hospital diagnoses only elucidate severity of diseases to some extent, and other measures of severity could be considered in future studies. Moreover, the socio-demographic pattern of patients calling OOH needs exploration as this may play an important role in choice of entrance.

Increasing emergency hospital activity in Denmark, 2005-2016: a nationwide descriptive study

OBJECTIVES

To describe changes in unplanned acute activity and to identify and characterise unplanned contacts in hospitals in Denmark from 2005 to 2016, including following healthcare reform.

DESIGN

Descriptive study.

SETTING

Data from Danish nationwide registers.

POPULATION

Adults (≥18 years).

PARTICIPANTS

All adults with an unplanned acute hospital contacts (acute inpatient admissions and emergency care visits) in Denmark from 2005 to 2016.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

Outcomes were annual number of contacts, length of stay, number of contacts per 1000 citizen per year, age-adjusted contacts per 1000 citizens per year, sex, age groups, country of origin, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, discharge diagnosis and time of arrival.

RESULTS

We included a total of 13 524 680 contacts. The annual number of acute hospital contacts increased from 1 067 390 in 2005 to 1 221 601 in 2016. The number also increased with adjustment for age per 1000 citizens. In addition, regional differences were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

Unplanned acute activity changed from 2005 to 2016. The national number of contacts increased, primarily because of changes in one of the five regions.

Contacting out-of-hours primary care or emergency medical services for time-critical conditions - impact on patient outcomes

BACKGROUND

Out-of-hours (OOH) healthcare services in Western countries are often differentiated into out-of-hours primary healthcare services (OOH-PC) and emergency medical services (EMS). Call waiting time, triage model and intended aims differ between these services. Consequently, the care pathway and outcome could vary based on the choice of entrance to the healthcare system. We aimed to investigate patient pathways and 1- and 1-30-day mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) stay and length of hospital stay for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke and sepsis in relation to the OOH service that was contacted prior to the hospital contact.

METHODS

Population-based observational cohort study during 2016 including adult patients from two Danish regions with an OOH service contact on the date of hospital contact. Patients <18 years were excluded. Data was retrieved from OOH service databases and national registries, linked by a unique personal identification number. Crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed to assess mortality in relation to contacted OOH service with OOH-PC as the reference and cox regression analysis to assess risk of ICU stay.

RESULTS

We included 6826 patients. AMI and stroke patients more often contacted EMS (52.1 and 54.1%), whereas sepsis patients predominately called OOH-PC (66.9%). Less than 10% (all diagnoses) of patients contacted both OOH-PC & EMS. Stroke patients with EMS or OOH-PC & EMS contacts had higher likelihood of 1- and 1-30-day mortality, in particular 1-day (EMS: OR = 5.33, 95% CI: 2.82-10.08; OOH-PC & EMS: OR = 3.09, 95% CI: 1.06-9.01). Sepsis patients with EMS or OOH-PC & EMS contacts also had higher likelihood of 1-day mortality (EMS: OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.40-3.51; OOH-PC & EMS: OR = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.56-5.23) and 1-30-day mortality. Risk of ICU stay was only significantly higher for stroke patients contacting EMS (EMS: HR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.51-3.75). Stroke and sepsis patients with EMS contact had longer hospital stays.

CONCLUSIONS

More patients contacted OOH-PC than EMS. Sepsis and stroke patients contacting EMS solely or OOH-PC & EMS had higher likelihood of 1- and 1-30-day mortality during the subsequent hospital contact. Our results suggest that patients contacting EMS are more severely ill, however OOH-PC is still often used for time-critical conditions.

The Danish prehospital emergency healthcare system and research possibilities

The emergency medical healthcare system outside hospital varies greatly across the globe - even within the western world. Within the last ten years, the demand for emergency medical service systems has increased, and the Danish emergency medical service system has undergone major changes.Therefore, we aimed to provide an updated description of the current Danish prehospital medical healthcare system.Since 2007, Denmark has been divided into five regions each responsible for health services, including the prehospital services. Each region may contract their own ambulance service providers. The Danish emergency medical services in general include ambulances, rapid response vehicles, mobile emergency care units and helicopter emergency medical services. All calls to the national emergency number, 1-1-2, are answered by the police, or the Copenhagen fire brigade, and since 2011 forwarded to an Emergency Medical Coordination Centre when the call relates to medical issues. At the Emergency Medical Coordination Centre, healthcare personnel assess the situation guided by the Danish Index for Emergency Care and determine the level of urgency of the situation, while technical personnel dispatch the appropriate medical emergency vehicles. In Denmark, all healthcare services, including emergency medical services are publicly funded and free of charge. In addition to emergency calls, other medical services are available for less urgent health problems around the clock. Prehospital personnel have since 2015 utilized a nationwide electronic prehospital medical record. The use of this prehospital medical record combined with Denmark's extensive registries, linkable by the unique civil registration number, enables new and unique possibilities to do high quality prehospital research, with complete patient follow-up.

Symptom, diagnosis and mortality among respiratory emergency medical service patients

OBJECTIVE

Breathing difficulties and respiratory diseases have been under-reported in Emergency Medical Services research, despite these conditions being prevalent with substantial mortality. Our aim was two-fold; 1) to investigate the diagnostic pattern and mortality among EMS patients to whom an ambulance was dispatched due to difficulty breathing, and 2) to investigate the initial symptoms and mortality for EMS patients diagnosed with respiratory diseases in hospital.

METHODS

Population-based historic cohort study in the North Denmark Region 2012-2015. We included two patient groups; 1) patients calling the emergency number with breathing difficulty as main symptom, and 2) patients diagnosed with respiratory diseases in hospital following an emergency call. Main outcome was estimated 1- and 30-day mortality rates.

RESULTS

There were 3803 patients with the symptom breathing difficulty, nearly half were diagnosed with respiratory diseases 47.3%, followed by circulatory diseases 13.4%, and symptoms and signs 12.0%. The 1-day mortality rate was highest for circulatory diseases, then respiratory diseases and other factors. Over-all 30-day mortality was 13.2%, and the highest rate was for circulatory diseases (17.7%) then respiratory diseases and other factors. A total of 4014 patients were diagnosed with respiratory diseases, 44.8% had the symptom breathing difficulty, 13.4% unclear problems and 11.3%. chest pain/heart disease. 1-day mortality rates were highest for decreased consciousness, then breathing difficulties and unclear problem. Over-all 30-day mortality rates were 12.5%, the highest with symptoms of decreased consciousness (19.1%), then unclear problem and breathing difficulty. There was an overlap of 1797 patients between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The over-all mortality rates alongside the distribution of symptoms and diagnoses, suggest the breathing difficulty patient group is complex and has severe health problems. These findings may be able to raise awareness towards the patient group, and thereby increase focus on diagnostics and treatment to improve the patient outcome.