Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2024
Vital sign measurements demonstrate terminal digit bias and boundary effects.
The measurement and recording of vital signs may be impacted by biases, including preferences for even and round numbers. However, other biases, such as variation due to defined numerical boundaries (also known as boundary effects), may be present in vital signs data and have not yet been investigated in a medical setting. We aimed to assess vital signs data for such biases. These parameters are clinically significant as they influence care escalation. ⋯ Although often considered objective, vital signs data are affected by bias. These biases may impact the care patients receive. Additionally, it may have implications for creating and training machine learning models that utilise vital signs data.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2024
Evaluation of a pathway to address take own leave events for First Nations peoples presenting for emergency care: The Deadly RED project.
The 'Deadly RED' project primarily aimed to improve culturally competent care to reduce the number of First Nations patients presenting to a Queensland ED who 'Take own leave' (TOL). The secondary aim was to evaluate the implementation project. ⋯ The Deadly RED evaluation revealed significant discrepancies in the reported data points of TOL and the 'story' of the First Nations persons experience of appropriate and completed care. Staff awareness and cultural capability improved significantly, and yarning allowed knowledge translation and improvements in communication which contributed to a better healthcare experience for First Nations patients attending our ED.