Scand J Trauma Resus
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2019
Randomized Controlled Trial Pragmatic Clinical TrialImpact of caller's degree-of-worry on triage response in out-of-hours telephone consultations: a randomized controlled trial.
Telephone triage entails assessment of urgency and direction of flow in out-of-hours (OOH) services, while visual cues are inherently lacking. Triage tools are recommended but current tools fail to provide systematic assessment of the caller's perspective. Research demonstrated that callers can scale their degree-of-worry (DOW) in a telephone contact with OOH services, but its impact on triage response is undetermined. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between call-handlers' awareness of the caller's DOW and the telephone triage response. ⋯ Awareness of DOW did not affect the triage response, but this finding could reflect a weak implementation strategy. Future studies should emphasise the implementation strategy to determine the effect of DOW on triage response.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2019
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyAvailability of suPAR in emergency departments may improve risk stratification: a secondary analysis of the TRIAGE III trial.
Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is a prognostic and nonspecific biomarker associated with short-term mortality in emergency department (ED) patients. Therefore, the blood level of suPAR might be usable for identification of patients at high- and low risk, shortly after arrival at the ED. Here, we investigate the value of adding suPAR to triage and how this may impact on risk stratification regarding mortality. ⋯ Addition of suPAR to triage potentially improves prediction of short-term mortality. Measurement of suPAR in relation to the triage process may allow a more accurate identification of ED patients at risk.