The American journal of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study
Emergency department utilization for mental health conditions before and after the COVID-19 outbreak.
The outbreak of COVID-19 disrupted lives across the United States. Evidence shows that such a climate is deleterious to mental health and may increase demand for mental health services in emergency departments. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in emergency department utilization for mental health diagnoses before and after the COVID-19 surge. ⋯ The emergency department is an important community resource for the identification and triage of mental health emergencies. This role is even more important during disasters and extended crises, making it imperative that emergency departments employ experienced mental health staff. This study provides a comparison of emergency department utilization for mental health diagnoses before the pandemic and during the spring 2020 surge and may serve as a useful guide for hospitals, health systems and communities in future planning.
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Multicenter Study
Emergency department bounceback characteristics for patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
The global healthcare burden of COVID-19 continues to rise. There is currently limited information regarding the disease progression and the need for hospitalizations in patients who present to the Emergency Department (ED) with minimal or no symptoms. ⋯ COVID-19 patients diagnosed with mild symptoms on initial presentation have a 14.6% rate of bounceback due to progression of illness.
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COVID-19 transmission remains high around the world, and severe local outbreaks continue to occur. Prognostic tools may be useful in crisis conditions as risk stratification can help determine resource allocation. One published tool, the Pandemic Respiratory Infection Emergency System Triage Severity Score, seems particularly promising because of its predictive ability and ease of application at the bedside. We sought to understand the performance of a modified version of this score (mPRIEST) in our institution for identifying patients with a greater than minimal risk for adverse outcome (death or organ support) at 30 days after index visit. ⋯ This data suggests the mPRIEST score, which can be calculated from clinical variables alone, has potential for use in EDs to identify patients at very low risk for adverse outcomes within 30 days of COVID diagnosis. This should be confirmed in larger formal validation studies in diverse settings.
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Multicenter Study
Antithrombotic regimens and need for critical care interventions among patients with subdural hematomas.
Antithrombotic-associated subdural hematomas (SDHs) are increasingly common, and the possibility of clinical deterioration in otherwise stable antithrombotic-associated SDH patients may prompt unnecessary admissions to intensive care units. It is unknown whether all antithrombotic regimens are equally associated with the need for critical care interventions. We sought to compare the frequency of critical care interventions and poor functional outcomes among three cohorts of noncomatose SDH patients: patients on no antithrombotics, patients on anticoagulants, and patients on antiplatelets alone. ⋯ Isolated antiplatelet use is not a significant predictor of need for critical care interventions or poor functional outcome among SDH patients and should not be used as a criterion for triage to the intensive care unit.