Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Observational Study
Development and Validation of a Measure to Assess Patients' Threat Perceptions in the Emergency Department.
Threat perceptions in the emergency department (ED; e.g., patients' subjective feelings of helplessness or lack of control) during evaluation for an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are associated with the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and PTSD has been associated with medication nonadherence, cardiac event recurrence, and mortality. This study reports the development and validation of a seven-item measure of ED threat perceptions in English- and Spanish-speaking patients evaluated for ACS. ⋯ This brief tool assessing ED threat perceptions has clinical utility for providers to identify patients at risk for developing cardiac-induced PTSD and is critical to inform research on whether threat may be modified in-ED to reduce PTSD incidence.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Factors Associated With Patient Involvement in Emergency Care Decisions: A Secondary Analysis of the Chest Pain Choice Multicenter Randomized Trial.
Shared decision making in the emergency department (ED) can increase patient engagement for patients presenting with chest pain. However, little is known regarding which factors are associated with actual patient involvement in decision making or patients' desired involvement in emergency care decisions. We examined which factors were associated with patients' actual and desired involvement in decision making among ED chest pain patients. ⋯ Patients' reported desire for involvement in decision making was higher among those with higher health literacy. After study site and other potential confounding factors were adjusted for, only use of the decision aid was associated with observed patient involvement in decision making. As the science and practice of shared decision making in the ED moves toward implementation, high-fidelity integration of the decision aid into the flow of care will be necessary to realize desired outcomes.
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With the rise of opioid use in the United States, the increasing demand for treatment for opioid use disorders presents both a challenge and an opportunity to develop new care pathways for emergency department (ED) patients seeking opioid detoxification. We set out to improve the care of patients presenting to our ED seeking opioid detoxification by implementing a standardized management pathway and to measure the effects of this intervention. ⋯ Implementation of an opioid detoxification management pathway reduced EDLOS, reduced utilization of resources, and increased the proportion of patients prescribed medications for symptom relief.
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This systematic review provides an assessment of the diagnostic accuracy of various historical, physical, and clinical examination features for aortic dissection. Nine articles were included, with moderate to high heterogeneity. Limitations to general practice include risk of selection bias and partial verification bias. Risk scores were included, but their use is not recommended at this time.