Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
Community consultation is a required element of research studies that use a waiver of or exception from informed consent. Its intent is to provide an additional patient safeguard in emergency research circumstances when prospective informed consent is not possible. ⋯ This article presents a brief overview of the sparse literature available on the process of community consultation since the inception of the current emergency research regulations. To determine if the process is meeting its goals, more research will be required.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A randomized clinical trial to assess the impact on an emergency response system on anxiety and health care use among older emergency patients after a fall.
Personal emergency response systems (PERSs) are reported to reduce anxiety and health care use and may assist in planning the disposition of older patients discharged from the emergency department (ED) to home. This study measured the impact of a PERS on anxiety, fear of falling, and subsequent health care use among older ED patients. ⋯ In contrast to previous studies, there was no evidence that a PERS reduced anxiety, fear of falling, or return to the ED among older persons discharged from the ED.
-
To examine antibiotic prescribing trends for U.S. emergency department (ED) visits with upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) between 1993 and 2004. ⋯ Antibiotic prescribing for URIs continues to decrease, a favorable trend that suggests that national efforts to reduce inappropriate antibiotic usage are having some success. Nevertheless, the frequency of antibiotic treatment for URI in the ED remains high (35%). Future efforts to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing may focus on patients and physicians in southern U.S. EDs. Additional work is needed to address continued evidence of race-related disparities in care.