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Ambulance call triage outcomes for patients reporting pain : a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of pain score versus traige level

Lord, B., Cui, J. and Woollard, M. 2009, Ambulance call triage outcomes for patients reporting pain : a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of pain score versus traige level, Emergency medicine journal, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 123-127.

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Title Ambulance call triage outcomes for patients reporting pain : a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of pain score versus traige level
Author(s) Lord, B.
Cui, J.
Woollard, M.
Journal name Emergency medicine journal
Volume number 26
Issue number 2
Start page 123
End page 127
Publisher BMJ Publishing
Place of publication London, England
Publication date 2009-02
ISSN 1472-0205
1472-0213
Summary Objective: To identify any association between the response priority code generated during calls to the ambulance communication centre and patient reports of pain severity.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of patient care records was undertaken for all patients transported by paramedics over a 7-day period. The primary research interest was the association between the response code allocated at the time of telephone triage and the initial pain severity score recorded using a numeric rating scale (NRS). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression methods were used to analyse the association between the response priority variable and explanatory variables.

Results: There were 1246 cases in which both an initial pain score using the NRS and a response code were recorded. Of these cases, 716/1246 (57.5%) were associated with a code 1 ("time-critical") response. After adjusting for gender, age, cause of pain and duration of pain, a multivariate logistic regression analysis found no significant change in the odds of a patient in pain receiving a time-critical response compared with patients who had no pain, regardless of their initial pain score (NRS 1–3, odds ratio (OR) 1.11, 95% CI 0.7 to 1.8; NRS 4–7, OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.7 to 1.8; NRS 8–10, OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.5 to 1.4).

Conclusion: The severity of pain experienced by the patient appeared to have no influence on the priority (urgency) of the dispatch response. Triage systems used to prioritise ambulance calls and decide the urgency of response or type of referral options should consider pain severity to facilitate timely and humane care.
Language eng
Field of Research 111706 Epidemiology
Socio Economic Objective 920299 Health and Support Services not elsewhere classified
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
ERA Research output type C Journal article
HERDC collection year 2009
Copyright notice ©2009, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30018535

Document type: Journal Article
Collection: Public Health Research, Evaluation, and Policy Cluster
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Created: Tue, 08 Sep 2009, 12:08:42 EST by Deborah Wittahatchy