Electrocardiogram interpretation during nurse triage improves the performance of the triage system in patients with cardiovascular symptoms – A prospective observational study

Abstract

BackgroundAn immediate ECG on arrival of a patient with cardiovascular symptoms in the ED may anticipate the need for life-saving intervention. The aim was to evaluate whether ECG interpretation during nurse triage can improve triage system performance in patients with cardiovascular symptoms. MethodsAll patients who required an assessment for cardiovascular symptoms were considered for this observational study. During triage assessment, the nurses assessed the patient's level of urgency applying the MTS, then again after this evaluation (confirming or modifying the level of urgency based on personal clinical experience) and after interpretation of the patient’s ECG. The main study outcome was the diagnosis of an acute cardiovascular event. ResultsOf the 1211 patients in the study, 10.5% presented the main study outcome. ECG interpretation in triage exhibited a nurse–physician agreement of 92.9% (p<0.001). increased patient priority in 7.5% of cases and reduced it in 39.6%. The discriminatory ability of the triage system had an area under the ROC of 0.712and 0.845 after ECG interpretation. ECG interpretation improved the baseline assessment of priority, with an NRI of 60.1% (p<0.001). ConclusionsECG interpretation in triage can be a simple and safe tool that improves the assessment of patient priority.