Annick N. Yagapen

Emergency Department Visits for Nontraumatic Dental Problems: A Mixed-Methods Study

OBJECTIVES We documented emergency department (ED) visits for nontraumatic dental problems and identified strategies to reduce ED dental visits. METHODS We used mixed methods to analyze claims in 2010 from a purposive sample of 25 Oregon hospitals and Oregons All Payer All Claims data set and interviewed 51 ED dental visitors and stakeholders from 6 communities. RESULTS Dental visits accounted for 2.5% of ED visits and represented the second-most-common discharge diagnosis in adults aged 20 to 39 years, were associated with being uninsured (odds ratio [OR] = 5.2 [reference: commercial insurance]; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.8, 5.5) or having Medicaid insurance (OR = 4.0; 95% CI = 3.7, 4.2), resulted in opioid (56%) and antibiotic (56%) prescriptions, and generated

Minimizing Attrition for Multisite Emergency Care Research

402 (95% CI = 

Reliability of clinical assessments in older adults with syncope or near syncope

396,

ECG Predictors of Cardiac Arrhythmias in Older Adults With Syncope

408) in hospital costs per visit. Interviews revealed health system, community, provider, and patient contributors to ED dental visits. Potential solutions provided by interviewees included Medicaid benefit expansion, care coordination, water fluoridation, and patient education. CONCLUSIONS Emergency department dental visits are a significant and costly public health problem for vulnerable individuals. Future efforts should focus on implementing multilevel interventions to reduce ED dental visits.

Estimating the cost of care for emergency department syncope patients: Comparison of three models

Loss to follow-up of enrolled patients (a.k.a. attrition) is a major threat to study validity and power. Minimizing attrition can be challenging even under ideal research conditions, including the presence of adequate funding, experienced study personnel, and a refined research infrastructure. Emergency care research is shifting toward enrollment through multisite networks, but there have been limited descriptions of approaches to minimize attrition for these multicenter emergency care studies. This concept paper describes a stepwise approach to minimize attrition, using a case example of a multisite emergency department prospective cohort of over 3,000 patients that has achieved a 30-day direct phone follow-up attrition rate of <3%. The seven areas of approach to minimize attrition in this study focused on patient selection, baseline contact data collection, patient incentives, patient tracking, central phone banks, local enrollment site assistance, and continuous performance monitoring. Appropriate study design, including consideration of these methods to reduce attrition, will be time well spent and may improve study validity.

Outcomes of Patients with Syncope and Suspected Dementia.

OBJECTIVES Clinical prediction models for risk stratification of older adults with syncope or near syncope may improve resource utilization and management. Predictors considered for inclusion into such models must be reliable. Our primary objective was to evaluate the inter-rater agreement of historical, physical examination, and electrocardiogram (ECG) findings in older adults undergoing emergency department (ED) evaluation for syncope or near syncope. Our secondary objective was to assess the level of agreement between clinicians on the patients overall risk for death or serious cardiac outcomes. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study at 11 EDs in adults 60 years of age or older who presented with unexplained syncope or near syncope. We excluded patients with a presumptive cause of syncope (e.g., seizure) or if they were unable or unwilling to follow-up. Evaluations of the patients past medical history and current medication use were completed by treating provider and trained research associate pairs. Evaluations of the patients physical examination and ECG interpretation were completed by attending/resident, attending/advanced practice provider, or attending/attending pairs. All evaluations were blinded to the responses from the other rater. We calculated the percent agreement and kappa statistic for binary variables. Inter-rater agreement was considered acceptable if the kappa statistic was 0.6 or higher. RESULTS We obtained paired observations from 255 patients; mean (±SD) age was 73 (±9) years, 137 (54%) were male, and 204 (80%) were admitted to the hospital. Acceptable agreement was achieved in 18 of the 21 (86%) past medical history and current medication findings, none of the 10 physical examination variables, and three of the 13 (23%) ECG interpretation variables. There was moderate agreement (Spearman correlation coefficient, r = 0.40) between clinicians on the patients probability of 30-day death or serious cardiac outcome, although as the probability increased, there was less agreement. CONCLUSIONS Acceptable agreement between raters was more commonly achieved with historical rather than physical examination or ECG interpretation variables. Clinicians had moderate agreement in assessing the patients overall risk for a serious outcome at 30 days. Future development of clinical prediction models in older adults with syncope should account for variability of assessments between raters and consider the use of objective clinical variables.

Predictors of Clinically Significant Echocardiography Findings in Older Adults with Syncope: A Secondary Analysis

Study objective: Cardiac arrhythmia is a life‐threatening condition in older adults who present to the emergency department (ED) with syncope. Previous work suggests the initial ED ECG can predict arrhythmia risk; however, specific ECG predictors have been variably specified. Our objective is to identify specific ECG abnormalities predictive of 30‐day serious cardiac arrhythmias in older adults presenting to the ED with syncope. Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational study at 11 EDs in adults aged 60 years or older who presented with syncope or near syncope. We excluded patients with a serious cardiac arrhythmia diagnosed during the ED evaluation from the primary analysis. The outcome was occurrence of 30‐day serous cardiac arrhythmia. The exposure variables were predefined ECG abnormalities. Independent predictors were identified through multivariate logistic regression. The sensitivities and specificities of any predefined ECG abnormality and any ECG abnormality identified on adjusted analysis to predict 30‐day serious cardiac arrhythmia were also calculated. Results: After exclusion of 197 patients (5.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.7% to 6.2%) with serious cardiac arrhythmias in the ED, the study cohort included 3,416 patients. Of these, 104 patients (3.0%; 95% CI 2.5% to 3.7%) had a serious cardiac arrhythmia within 30 days from the index ED visit (median time to diagnosis 2 days [interquartile range 1 to 5 days]). The presence of nonsinus rhythm, multiple premature ventricular conductions, short PR interval, first‐degree atrioventricular block, complete left bundle branch block, and Q wave/T wave/ST‐segment abnormalities consistent with acute or chronic ischemia on the initial ED ECG increased the risk for a 30‐day serious cardiac arrhythmia. This combination of ECG abnormalities had a similar sensitivity in predicting 30‐day serious cardiac arrhythmia compared with any ECG abnormality (76.9% [95% CI 67.6% to 84.6%] versus 77.9% [95% CI 68.7% to 85.4%]) and was more specific (55.1% [95% CI 53.4% to 56.8%] versus 46.6% [95% CI 44.9% to 48.3%]). Conclusion: In older ED adults with syncope, approximately 3% receive a diagnosis of a serious cardiac arrhythmia not recognized on initial ED evaluation. The presence of specific abnormalities on the initial ED ECG increased the risk for 30‐day serious cardiac arrhythmias.

QTc prolongation as a marker of 30-day serious outcomes in older patients with syncope presenting to the Emergency Department

Introduction We sought to compare three hospital cost-estimation models for patients undergoing evaluation for unexplained syncope using hospital cost data. Developing such a model would allow researchers to assess the value of novel clinical algorithms for syncope management. Methods We collected complete health services data, including disposition, testing, and length of stay (LOS), on 67 adult patients (age 60 years and older) who presented to the emergency department (ED) with syncope at a single hospital. Patients were excluded if a serious medical condition was identified. We created three hospital cost-estimation models to estimate facility costs: V1, unadjusted Medicare payments for observation and/or hospital admission; V2: modified Medicare payment, prorated by LOS in calendar days; and V3: modified Medicare payment, prorated by LOS in hours. Total hospital costs included unadjusted Medicare payments for diagnostic testing and estimated facility costs. We plotted these estimates against actual cost data from the hospital finance department, and performed correlation and regression analyses. Results Of the three models, V3 consistently outperformed the others with regard to correlation and goodness of fit. The Pearson correlation coefficient for V3 was 0.88 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.81, 0.92) with an R-square value of 0.77 and a linear regression coefficient of 0.87 (95% CI 0.76, 0.99). Conclusion Using basic health services data, it is possible to accurately estimate hospital costs for older adults undergoing a hospital-based evaluation for unexplained syncope. This methodology could help assess the potential economic impact of implementing novel clinical algorithms for ED syncope.

Variation in diagnostic testing for older patients with syncope in the emergency department

OBJECTIVES Syncope and near-syncope are common in patients with dementia and a leading cause of emergency department (ED) evaluation and subsequent hospitalization. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical trajectory and short-term outcomes of patients who presented to the ED with syncope or near-syncope and were assessed by their ED provider to have dementia. METHODS This multisite prospective cohort study included patients 60 years of age or older who presented to the ED with syncope or near-syncope between 2013 and 2016. We analyzed a subcohort of 279 patients who were identified by the treating ED provider to have baseline dementia. We collected comprehensive patient-level, utilization, and outcomes data through interviews, provider surveys, and chart abstraction. Outcome measures included serious conditions related to syncope and death. RESULTS Overall, 221 patients (79%) were hospitalized with a median length of stay of 2.1 days. A total of 46 patients (16%) were diagnosed with a serious condition in the ED. Of the 179 hospitalized patients who did not have a serious condition identified in the ED, 14 (7.8%) were subsequently diagnosed with a serious condition during the hospitalization, and an additional 12 patients (6.7%) were diagnosed postdischarge within 30 days of the index ED visit. There were seven deaths (2.5%) overall, none of which were cardiac-related. No patients who were discharged from the ED died or had a serious condition in the subsequent 30 days. CONCLUSIONS Patients with perceived dementia who presented to the ED with syncope or near-syncope were frequently hospitalized. The diagnosis of a serious condition was uncommon if not identified during the initial ED assessment. Given the known iatrogenic risks of hospitalization for patients with dementia, future investigation of the impact of goals of care discussions on reducing potentially preventable, futile, or unwanted hospitalizations while improving goal-concordant care is warranted.

Recurrent syncope is not an independent risk predictor for future syncopal events or adverse outcomes

BACKGROUND Syncope is a common reason for visiting the emergency department (ED) and is associated with significant healthcare resource utilization. OBJECTIVE To develop a risk-stratification tool for clinically significant findings on echocardiography among older adults presenting to the ED with syncope or near-syncope. DESIGN Prospective, observational cohort study from April 2013 to September 2016 SETTING Eleven EDs in the United States PATIENTS We enrolled adults (≥60 years) who presented to the ED with syncope or near-syncope who underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). MEASUREMENTS The primary outcome was a clinically significant finding on TTE. Clinical, electrocardiogram, and laboratory variables were also collected. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of significant findings on echocardiography. RESULTS A total of 3,686 patients were enrolled. Of these, 995 (27%) received echocardiography, and 215 (22%) had a significant finding on echocardiography. Regression analysis identified five predictors of significant findings: (1) history of congestive heart failure, (2) history of coronary artery disease, (3) abnormal electrocardiogram, (4) high-sensitivity troponin-T >14 pg/mL, and 5) N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide >125 pg/mL. These five variables make up the ROMEO (Risk Of Major Echocardiography findings in Older adults with syncope) criteria. The sensitivity of a ROMEO score of zero for excluding significant findings on echocardiography was 99.5% (95% CI: 97.4%-99.9%) with a specificity of 15.4% (95% CI: 13.0%-18.1%). CONCLUSIONS If validated, this risk-stratification tool could help clinicians determine which syncope patients are at very low risk of having clinically significant findings on echocardiography. FUNDING This project was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01 HL111033. Dr. Probst is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K23HL132052-02.