The Journal of cardiovascular nursing
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Observational Study
Relationship Between Physiological Parameters and Acute Coronary Syndrome in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department With Undifferentiated Chest Pain.
The investigators of this study sought to examine whether abnormal physiological parameters are associated with increased risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain. ⋯ Patients with abnormal temperature or SBP were slightly more likely to have ACS, but such risk was of too small a magnitude to be useful in clinical decision making. Other physiological parameters (heart rate and respiratory rate) had no prognostic value. The use of physiological parameters cannot reliably confirm or rule out ACS.
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Observational Study
Health-Related Quality of Life, Functional Status, and Cardiac Event-Free Survival in Patients With Heart Failure.
Health-related quality of life (HRQOL), functional status, and cardiac event-free survival are outcomes used to assess the effectiveness of interventions in patients with heart failure (HF). However, the nature of the relationships among HRQOL, functional status, and cardiac event-free survival remains unclear. ⋯ Functional status was a mediator between HRQOL and cardiac event-free survival. These data suggest that intervention studies to improve functional status are needed.