Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Observational Study
Procalcitonin as a Marker of Serious Bacterial Infections in Febrile Children Younger Than 3 Years Old.
There is no perfectly sensitive or specific test for identifying young, febrile infants and children with occult serious bacterial infections (SBIs). Studies of procalcitonin (PCT), a 116-amino-acid precursor of the hormone calcitonin, have demonstrated its potential as an acute-phase biomarker for SBI. The objective of this study was to compare performance of serum PCT with traditional screening tests for detecting SBIs in young febrile infants and children. ⋯ Procalcitonin is a more accurate biomarker than traditional screening tests for identifying young febrile infants and children with serious SBIs. Further study on a larger cohort of young febrile children is required to definitively determine the benefit of PCT over traditional laboratory screening tests for SBIs.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Feasibility and Diagnostic Accuracy of Brief Health Literacy and Numeracy Screening Instruments in an Urban Emergency Department.
The objective was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of five health literacy screening instruments in emergency department (ED) patients: the Rapid Evaluation of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Revised (REALM-R), the Newest Vital Sign (NVS), Single Item Literacy Screens (SILS), health numeracy, and physician gestalt. A secondary objective was to evaluate the feasibility of these instruments as measured by administration time, time on task, and interruptions during test administration. ⋯ One-quarter of these ED patients had marginal or inadequate health literacy. Among the brief screening instruments evaluated, a normal NVS result accurately reduced the probability of LHL, although it will identify two-thirds of ED patients as high risk for LHL. None of the brief screening instruments significantly increases the probability of LHL when abnormal.