External validation of a rapid algorithm using high-sensitivity troponin assay results for evaluating patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to validate the clinical performance of a rapid assessment pathway incorporating the Siemens Atellica IM high sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) assay in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: This was a multicentre prospective observational study of adult ED patients presenting to five Australian hospitals between November 2020 and September 2021. Participants included those with symptoms of suspected AMI (without ST-segment elevation MI on presentation ECG). The Siemen's Atellica IM hs-cTnI laboratory-based assay was used to measure troponin concentrations at admission and after 2-3 hours and cardiologists adjudicated final diagnoses. The HighSTEACS diagnostic algorithm was evaluated, incorporating hs-cTnI concentrations at presentation and absolute changes within the first 2 to 3 hours. The primary outcome was index AMI, including type 1 or 2 non-ST segment elevation MI (NSTEMI) or ST-elevation MI (STEMI) following presentation. 30-day major adverse cardiac outcomes (including AMI, urgent revascularisation or cardiac death) were also reported. The trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. RESULTS: 1994 patients were included. The average age was 56.2 years (SD=15.6), and 44.9% were women. 118 (5.9%) patients had confirmed index AMI. The 2-hour algorithm defined 61.3% of patients as low risk. Sensitivity was 99.1% (94.0%-99.9%) and negative predictive value was 99.9% (99.3%-100%). 24.4% of patients were deemed intermediate risk. When applying the parameters for high risk, 252 (14.3%) were identified, with a specificity of 91.5% (88.7%-93.6%) and a PPV of 42.0% (35.6-48.7%). CONCLUSIONS: A 2-hour algorithm based on the HighSTEACS strategy using the Siemens Atellica IM hs-cTnI laboratory-based assay enables safe and efficient risk assessment of emergency patients with suspected AMI. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12621000053820.

Machine learning for diagnosis of myocardial infarction using cardiac troponin concentrations.

Although guidelines recommend fixed cardiac troponin thresholds for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, troponin concentrations are influenced by age, sex, comorbidities and time from symptom onset. To improve diagnosis, we developed machine learning models that integrate cardiac troponin concentrations at presentation or on serial testing with clinical features and compute the Collaboration for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Acute Coronary Syndrome (CoDE-ACS) score (0-100) that corresponds to an individual's probability of myocardial infarction. The models were trained on data from 10,038 patients (48% women), and their performance was externally validated using data from 10,286 patients (35% women) from seven cohorts. CoDE-ACS had excellent discrimination for myocardial infarction (area under curve, 0.953; 95% confidence interval, 0.947-0.958), performed well across subgroups and identified more patients at presentation as low probability of having myocardial infarction than fixed cardiac troponin thresholds (61 versus 27%) with a similar negative predictive value and fewer as high probability of having myocardial infarction (10 versus 16%) with a greater positive predictive value. Patients identified as having a low probability of myocardial infarction had a lower rate of cardiac death than those with intermediate or high probability 30 days (0.1 versus 0.5 and 1.8%) and 1 year (0.3 versus 2.8 and 4.2%; P < 0.001 for both) from patient presentation. CoDE-ACS used as a clinical decision support system has the potential to reduce hospital admissions and have major benefits for patients and health care providers.

Emergency department presentations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Queensland (to June 2021): interrupted time series analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess emergency department (ED) presentation numbers in Queensland during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to mid-2021, a period of relatively low COVID-19 case numbers. DESIGN: Interrupted time series analysis. SETTING: All 105 Queensland public hospital EDs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Numbers of ED presentations during the COVID-19 lockdown period (11 March 2020 - 30 June 2020) and the period of easing restrictions (1 July 2020 - 30 June 2021), compared with pre-pandemic period (1 January 2018 - 10 March 2020), overall (daily numbers) and by Australasian Triage Scale (ATS; daily numbers) and selected diagnostic categories (cardiac, respiratory, mental health, injury-related conditions) and conditions (stroke, sepsis) (weekly numbers). RESULTS: During the lockdown period, the mean number of ED presentations was 19.4% lower (95% confidence interval, -20.9% to -17.9%) than during the pre-pandemic period (predicted mean number: 5935; actual number: 4786 presentations). The magnitudes of the decline and the time to return to predicted levels varied by ATS category and diagnostic group; changes in presentation numbers were least marked for ATS 1 and 2 (most urgent) presentations, and for presentations with cardiac conditions or stroke. Numbers remained below predicted levels during the 12-month post-lockdown period for ATS 5 (least urgent) presentations and presentations with mental health problems, respiratory conditions, or sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic and related public restrictions were associated with profound changes in health care use. Pandemic plans should include advice about continuing to seek care for serious health conditions and health emergencies, and support alternative sources of care for less urgent health care needs.

Snapshot of suspected acute coronary syndrome assessment processes in the emergency department: A national cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVE: The Snapshot of Suspected ACS Assessment (SSAASY) study aims to describe the assessment processes for patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Australian EDs, and to compare these processes with the National Heart Foundation of Australia and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (NHFA/CSANZ) guidelines. METHODS: Between March and May 2021, a cross-sectional survey of Australian EDs was undertaken to investigate the assessment strategies used within the ED. All public and private hospitals identified as having dedicated EDs were invited to participate. Respondents provided data on hospital, ED and cardiac service characteristics. They also provided data on the risk stratification process recommended within their department (risk scores, troponin testing, objective testing for coronary artery disease). Awareness of the NHFA/CSANZ guidelines was assessed. RESULTS: Responses were received from 109/162 departments (67%). Most sites (n = 100, 92%) reported using dedicated protocols developed by ED clinicians that included risk stratification scores. Highly sensitive troponin assays were used at 103 (94%) sites. Serial troponin testing was performed over 2 h for low-risk patients in 53 (49%) sites and 2-3 h for intermediate and high-risk patients in 74 (68%) sites. Further investigations included exercise stress tests (48%) and stress echocardiography (38%), with 45% of sites ordering outpatient investigations. CONCLUSIONS: The SSAASY study reported the strategies used to assess suspected ACS. In line with current NHFA/CSANZ guidelines, highly sensitive troponin assays are widely utilised. However, serial sampling intervals were longer than guideline recommendations, suggesting a translational gap between guidelines and clinical practice.

Diagnostic and prognostic performance of the ratio between high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I and troponin T in patients with chest pain.

BACKGROUND: Elevations of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) concentrations not related to type 1 myocardial infarction are common in chest pain patients presenting to emergency departments. The discrimination of these patients from those with type 1 myocardial infarction (MI) is challenging and resource-consuming. We aimed to investigate whether the hs-cTn I/T ratio might provide diagnostic and prognostic increment in this context. METHODS: We calculated the hs-cTn I/T ratio in 888 chest pain patients having hs-cTnI (Abbott Laboratories) or hs-cTnT (Roche Diagnostics) concentrations above the respective 99th percentile at 2 hours from presentation. All patients were followed for one year regarding mortality. RESULTS: The median hs-cTn I/T ratio was 3.45 (25th, 75th percentiles 1.80-6.59) in type 1 MI patients (n = 408 ☯46.0%]), 1.18 (0.81-1.90) in type 2 MI patients (n = 56 ☯6.3%]) and 0.67 (0.39-1.12) in patients without MI. The hs-cTn I/T ratio provided good discrimination of type 1 MI from no type 1 MI (area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve 0.89 ☯95% confidence interval 0.86-0.91]), of type 1 MI from type 2 MI (area under the curve 0.81 ☯95% confidence interval 0.74-0.87]), and was associated with type 1 MI in adjusted analyses. The hs-cTn I/T ratio provided no consistent prognostic value. CONCLUSIONS: The hs-cTn I/T ratio appears to be useful for early diagnosis of type 1 MI and its discrimination from type 2 MI in chest pain patients presenting with elevated hs-cTn. Differences in hs-cTn I/T ratio values may reflect variations in hs-cTn release mechanisms in response to different types of myocardial injury.

Single High-Sensitivity Point-of-Care Whole-Blood Cardiac Troponin I Measurement to Rule Out Acute Myocardial Infarction at Low Risk.

BACKGROUND: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) laboratory assays are used to rule out myocardial infarction (MI) on presentation, but prolonged result turnaround times can delay patient management. Our primary aim was to identify patients at low risk of index MI using a rapid point-of-care (POC) whole-blood hs-cTnI assay at presentation with potential early patient discharge. METHODS: Consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department from 2 prospective observational studies with suspected acute coronary syndrome were enrolled. A POC hs-cTnI assay (Atellica VTLi) threshold using whole blood at presentation, which resulted in a negative predictive value of ≥99.5% and sensitivity of >99% for index MI, was derived (SEIGE [Safe Emergency Department Discharge Rate]) and validated with plasma (SAMIE [Suspected Acute Myocardial Infarction in Emergency]). Event adjudications were established with hs-cTnI assay results from routine clinical care. The primary outcome was MI at 30 days. RESULTS: A total of 1086 patients (8.1% with MI) were enrolled in a US derivation cohort (SEIGE) and 1486 (5.5% MI) in an Australian validation cohort (SAMIE). A derivation whole-blood POC hs-cTnI concentration of <4 ng/L provided a sensitivity of 98.9% (95% CI, 93.8%-100%) and negative predictive value of 99.5% (95% CI, 97.2%-100%) for ruling out MI. In the validation cohort, the sensitivity was 98.8% (95% CI, 93.3%-100%), and negative predictive value was 99.8% (95% CI, 99.1%-100%); 17.8% and 41.8%, respectively, were defined as low risk for discharge. The 30-day adverse cardiac events were 0.1% (n=1) for SEIGE and 0.8% (n=5) for SAMIE. CONCLUSIONS: A POC whole-blood hs-cTnI assay permits accessible, rapid, and safe exclusion of MI and may expedite discharge from the emergency department. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov; Unique identifier: NCT04772157. URL: https://www.australianclinicaltrials.gov.au/anzctr_feed/form; Unique identifier: 12621000053820.

Retrospective study of the prevalence and characteristics of adverse drug events in adults who present to an Australian emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the burden, on the ED, of harm from unintentional adverse drug events (ADEs) in the community. METHODS: A retrospective, observational study of 936 randomly selected presentations to a level 6 ED at a principal referral hospital in Brisbane, Australia, in November 2017. Clinical records were screened by a pharmacist, who identified suspected ADEs. All suspected ADEs and a random selection of presentations without ADEs were reviewed by an expert panel, which classified, by consensus: occurrence and type of ADE, contribution of ADE to presentation, severity of harm and preventability of presentation. Medication-related ED presentations (ADE-Ps) and potential ADEs were, respectively, defined as presentations directly attributable to an ADE, and medication events that occurred but did not cause the ED presentation. Descriptive data analysis was performed. RESULTS: The median (interquartile range) age of patients was 40 (27-58) years, with 49.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 46.5-52.9) being male. The prevalences of ADE-Ps and potential ADEs were 9.2% (95% CI 7.5-11.3) and 5.0% (95% CI 3.8-6.6), respectively. The severity of harm was classified as 'death or likely permanent harm' in 4.7% (95% CI 0.2-9.1) of ADE-Ps, 'temporary harm' (89.5%, 95% CI 83.1-96.0) and 'minimal or no harm' (5.8%, 95% CI 0.9-10.8). Most (79.1%, 95% CI 70.5-87.7) ADE-Ps were preventable. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high burden on emergency care because of unintended medication harm in the community. Interventions to reduce such harm are likely to require a co-ordinated primary, acute and public healthcare response. The high proportion of presentations with potential ADEs indicates opportunity for harm mitigation in the ED.

Widespread Introduction of a High-Sensitivity Troponin Assay: Assessing the Impact on Patients and Health Services.

Adoption of High-sensitivity troponin (hs-cTn) assays by hospitals worldwide is increasing. We sought to determine the effects of a simultaneous state-wide hs-cTn assay introduction on the implementing health service. A quasi-experimental pre-post design was used. Participants included all adult patients presenting to 21 Australian hospitals who had troponin testing commenced within the Emergency Department (ED). Data were collected for 124,357 episodes of care between 30 April 2018 and 23 April 2019; six months pre- and six months post-implementation of the assay. The primary outcome was hospital length of stay (LOS). Secondary outcomes included ED LOS, 90-day cardiovascular mortality, elevated troponin, diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), admission to a cardiology ward, invasive cardiac procedures, and total hospital costs. Following hs-cTn implementation, there was a 1.9-h (95% CI: -2.9 to -1.0 h) reduction in overall LOS. This equated to a cost saving of over 9 million Australian dollars per year. There was no increase in diagnosis of AMI, invasive cardiac procedures or ward admissions. The use of hs-cTn assays facilitates important benefits for health services by enabling more rapid evaluation protocols within the ED. This benefit may be considerable given the large cohort of emergency patients with possible ACS.

Examining the translational success of an initiative to accelerate the assessment of chest pain for patients in an Australian emergency department: a pre-post study.

BACKGROUND: The Improved assessment of chest pain trial (IMPACT) protocol is an accelerated strategy for the risk stratification and management of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain. This study sought to describe the adoption, sustainability and health services implications of implementing the IMPACT protocol. METHODS: This was a study of adult patients in a large Australian tertiary hospital who had serial troponin testing commenced within the ED. Data from two periods were utilized; the pre-implementation period (8th April 2012 to 5th April 2014) and the post-implementation period (6th April 2014 to 2nd April 2016). The primary outcome was the proportion of patients undergoing accelerated care. Secondary endpoints were ED assessment time, hospital length of stay, and costs. Data were compared in the pre- and post-implementation periods. RESULTS: The proportion of patients receiving accelerated care increased from 3% in the pre- to 34% in the post-intervention period. This increase occurred rapidly after implementation of IMPACT and was sustained over a 2-year period. For patients with troponin concentrations <99th percentile, the mean ED assessment time reduced from 12.3 h in the pre- to 10.1 h in the post-implementation period. Mean hospital length of stay was similar in the pre- and post-implementation periods (82.4 and 80.9 h). The average cost of chest pain assessment reduced from $3520 pre implementation to $3204 post implementation; a $316 reduction per patient. CONCLUSIONS: The IMPACT protocol was rapidly adopted and utilised after implementation into standard care. The initial increase in the proportion of patients undergoing accelerated assessment, followed by a plateau towards the end of the study period indicate adoption and sustainability of the IMPACT protocol over a two-year period. Modest reductions in length of stay and cost were seen after implementation. Given the large number of patients investigated for chest pain, such reductions may have substantial impact on the overall healthcare system.

Facilitators and barriers for emergency department clinicians using a rapid chest pain assessment protocol: qualitative interview research.

BACKGROUND: Guideline-based processes for the assessment of chest pain are lengthy and resource intensive. The IMProved Assessment of Chest Pain Trial (IMPACT) protocol was introduced in one Australian hospital Emergency Department (ED) to more efficiently risk stratify patients. The theoretical domains framework is a useful approach to assist in identifying barriers and facilitators to the implementation of new guidelines in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to understand clinicians' perceptions of facilitators and barriers to the use of the IMPACT protocol. METHODS: Guided by the theoretical domains framework, semi-structured interviews with nine ED clinical staff (medical and nursing) were undertaken in 2016. Content analysis was conducted independently by two researchers to identify those theoretical domains that facilitated or hindered protocol use. RESULTS: Domains most often reported as fundamental to the use of the IMPACT protocol included 'social/professional role and identity', 'environmental context and resources' and 'social influences'. These factors seemingly influenced professional confidence, with participants noting 'goals' that included standardisation of practice, enhanced patient safety, and reduced need for unnecessary testing. The domain 'environmental context and resources' also contained the most noted barrier - the need to inform new members of staff regarding protocol use. Opportunities to overcome this barrier included modelling of protocol use by staff at all levels and education - both formal and informal. CONCLUSIONS: A range of domains were identified by ED staff as influencing their chest pain management behaviour. Fundamental to its use were champions/leaders that were trusted and accessible, as well as social influences (other staff within ED and other specialty areas) that enabled and supported protocol use. Research investigating the implementation and perceived use of the protocol at other sites, of varied geographical locations, is warranted.

Key occupational stressors in the ED: an international comparison.

BACKGROUND: The ED Stressor Scale outlines 15 stressors that are of importance for ED staff. Limited research has identified how commonly such stressors occur, or whether such factors are perceived with similar importance across different hospitals. This study sought to examine the frequency or perceived severity of these 15 stressors using a multicentre cohort of emergency clinicians (nurses and physicians) in EDs in two countries (Australia and Sweden). METHOD: This was a cross-sectional survey of staff working in eight hospitals in Australia and Sweden. Data were collected between July 2016 and June 2017 (depending on local site approvals) via a printed survey incorporating the 15-item ED stressor scale. The median stress score for each item and the frequency of experiencing each event was reported. RESULTS: Events causing most distress include heavy workload, death or sexual abuse of a child, inability to provide optimum care and workplace violence. Stressors reported most frequently include dealing with high acuity patients, heavy workload and crowding. Violence, workload, inability to provide optimal care, poor professional relations, poor professional development and dealing with high-acuity patients were reported more commonly by Australian staff. Swedish respondents reported more frequent exposure to mass casualty incidents, crisis management and administrative concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Workload, inability to provide optimal care, workplace violence and death or sexual abuse of a child were consistently reported as the most distressing events across sites. The frequency with which these occurred differed in Australia and Sweden, likely due to differences in the healthcare systems.

Factors influencing physician risk estimates for acute cardiac events in emergency patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Emergency physicians frequently assess risk of acute cardiac events (ACEs) in patients with undifferentiated chest pain. Such estimates have been shown to have moderate to high sensitivity for ACE but are conservative. Little is known about the factors implicitly used by physicians to determine the pretest probability of risk. This study sought to identify the accuracy of physician risk estimates for ACE in patients presenting to the ED with chest pain and to identify the demographic and clinical information emergency physicians use in their determination of patient risk. METHODS: This study used data from two prospective studies of consenting adult patients presenting to the ED with symptoms of possible acute coronary syndrome. ED physicians estimated the pretest probability of ACE. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of physician risk estimates. Logistic regression was used to determine whether there was a correlation between physicians' estimated risk and ACE. RESULTS: Increasing age, male sex, abnormal ECG features, heavy/crushing chest pain and risk factors were correlated with physician risk estimates. Physician risk estimates were consistently found to be higher than the expected proportion of ACE from the sampled population. CONCLUSION: Physicians systematically overestimate ACE risk. A range of factors are associated with physician risk estimates. These include factors strongly predictive of ACE, such as age and ECG characteristics. They also include other factors that have been shown to be unreliable predictors of ACE in an ED setting, such as typicality of pain and risk factors.

Development of a revised Jalowiec Coping Scale for use by emergency clinicians: a cross-sectional scale development study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a scale to measure the coping strategies used by emergency staff in response to workplace stress. To achieve this aim, we developed a refined Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS), termed the Jalowiec Coping Scale-Emergency Department (JCS-ED) and validated this scale on a sample of emergency clinicians. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey incorporating the JCS, the working environment scale-10 and a measure of workplace stressors was administered between July 2016 and June 2017. The JCS-ED was developed in three stages: 1) item reduction through content matter experts, 2) exploratory factor analysis for further item reduction and to identify the factor structure of the revised scale and 3) confirmatory factor analyses to confirm the factors identified within the exploratory factor analysis. SETTING: Six Emergency Departments (EDs) in Australia and four in Sweden. There were three tertiary hospitals, five large urban hospitals and two small urban hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were eligible for inclusion if they worked full-time or part-time as medical or nursing staff in the study EDs. The median age of participants was 35 years (IQR: 28-45 years) and they had been working in the ED for a median of 5 years (IQR: 2-10 years). 79% were females and 76% were nurses. RESULTS: A total of 875 ED staff completed the survey (response rate 51%). The content matter experts reduced the 60-item scale to 32 items. Exploratory factor analyses then further reduced the scale to 18 items assessing three categories of coping: problem-focussed coping, positive emotion-focussed coping and negative emotion-focussed coping. Confirmatory factor analysis supported this three-factor structure. Negative coping strategies were associated with poor perceptions of the work environment and higher ratings of stress. CONCLUSIONS: The JCS-ED assesses maladaptive coping strategies along with problem-focussed and emotion-focussed coping styles. It is a short instrument that is likely to be useful in measuring the types of coping strategies employed by staff.

Staff perceptions of the emergency department working environment: An international cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to describe clinical staff perceptions of their ED working environment and to explore associations between staff demographics, coping styles and the work environment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in one Swedish ED and two Australian EDs in 2015-2016. Descriptive statistics were used to explore stressors, coping styles and aspects of the working environment for the combined cohort and the cohort split by age, sex, professional role, years of employment in the ED and country. Regression analyses examined the impact of coping style and demographic characteristics on staff perceptions of the working environment. RESULTS: Two hundred and six ED staff completed the survey (response rate: 64%). Factors most stressful for ED staff included death or sexual abuse of a child, heavy workload and poor skill mix. Staff perceptions of the working environment differed based on age, sex, country, tenure and job role. Regression analysis of perceptions of the work environment on demographics and coping strategies revealed that negative coping strategies were associated with low self-realisation, high workload, high conflict and high nervousness. Active coping and positive thinking were associated with increased self-realisation. Positive thinking was associated with lower levels of conflict. CONCLUSIONS: Employees engaging in positive coping strategies had more positive perceptions of the work environment, while those engaging in maladaptive coping strategies reported negative perceptions of the work environment. These data suggest that strategies that promote the use of active coping and positive thinking should be encouraged and warrant further research in the ED.

Stressors and coping strategies of emergency department nurses and doctors: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Emergency departments (EDs) are stressful workplaces. Limited research explores components ED staff find stressful and how they cope. The aim of this study is to describe ED staff perceptions of their working environment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in 2017 in a public, teaching hospital ED situated in an outer-metropolitan low socio-economic area. ED doctors and nurses completed surveys exploring workplace stressors (the ED stressors tool), coping strategies (Jalowiec Coping Scale), and perceptions of the working environment (Working Environment Scale-10). Descriptive and comparative analyses were undertaken. RESULTS: A 40% response rate (161/400) was achieved. Staff reported high workload, moderate self-realisation, and low levels of conflict and nervousness. Heavy workload, poor skill-mix and overcrowding were ranked as high-stress, high-exposure (daily) events. The death or sexual abuse of a child and inability to provide optimal care were ranked highly stressful but infrequent. Coping strategies most often used included: trying to keep life as normal as possible (90%) and considering different ways to handle the situation (89%). CONCLUSIONS: Impacts of varying degrees of exposure of this young cohort of staff, with limited experience, to modifiable and non-modifiable stressors highlight site-specific opportunities to enhance staff perceptions of their working environment.

Diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in the presence of left bundle branch block.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the setting of left bundle branch block (LBBB) present an important diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the clinician. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated the incidence of AMI and diagnostic performance of specific ECG and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) criteria in patients presenting with chest discomfort to 26 emergency departments in three international, prospective, diagnostic studies. The final diagnosis of AMI was centrally adjudicated by two independent cardiologists according to the universal definition of myocardial infarction. RESULTS: Among 8830 patients, LBBB was present in 247 (2.8%). AMI was the final diagnosis in 30% of patients with LBBB, with similar incidence in those with known LBBB versus those with presumably new LBBB (29% vs 35%, p=0.42). ECG criteria had low sensitivity (1%-12%) but high specificity (95%-100%) for AMI. The diagnostic accuracy as quantified by the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve of hs-cTnT and hs-cTnI concentrations at presentation (area under the ROC curve (AUC) 0.91, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.96 and AUC 0.89, 95% CI 0.83 to 0.95), as well as that of their 0/1-hour and 0/2-hour changes, was very high. A diagnostic algorithm combining ECG criteria with hs-cTnT/I concentrations and their absolute changes at 1 hour or 2 hours derived in cohort 1 (45 of 45(100%) patients with AMI correctly identified) showed high efficacy and accuracy when externally validated in cohorts 2 and 3 (28 of 29 patients, 97%). CONCLUSION: Most patients presenting with suspected AMI and LBBB will be found to have diagnoses other than AMI. Combining ECG criteria with hs-cTnT/I testing at 0/1 hour or 0/2 hours allows early and accurate diagnosis of AMI in LBBB. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: APACE: NCT00470587; ADAPT: ACTRN12611001069943; TRAPID-AMI: RD001107;Results.

Emergency clinician perceptions of occupational stressors and coping strategies: A multi-site study.

BACKGROUND: Research exploring multi-disciplinary emergency department (ED) clinicians' perceptions of their working environment is limited, although exposure to occupational stressors is frequent. This study describes ED clinicians' perceptions of their working environment, occupational stressors and their use of coping strategies. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 2017 at two Australian public hospital EDs. Nursing and medical staff completed a print-based survey of 100 items, which included three scales and a demographic questionnaire. Responses were analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. RESULTS: Doctors and nurses (n = 241) completed the survey (response rate 45%). Workload featured as a major factor in perception of the working environment and was a frequently occurring stressor. Death or sexual abuse of a child was the highest rated stressor, despite relative infrequency of exposure. When coping strategies were adjusted for sex, female respondents were more likely to use negative strategies such as blaming themselves (Odds Ratio, OR 4 [1.6-9.7]; p < 0.01) and less likely to use positive strategies such as exercise (OR 0.2 [0.1-0.6]; p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: While stressors were similarly rated among the diverse group of clinicians, the ways in which they reported coping varied. Further research is required to facilitate design of staff support strategies.

Affecting emergency department oxycodone discharge prescribing: An educational intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the impact of an educational intervention for ED prescribers on discharge oxycodone prescribing both for the number of oxycodone prescriptions per 1000 discharged patients, and the number of tablets per prescription. Secondary outcomes included the quality of general practitioner communication. METHODS: An interrupted time series assessment was conducted in the ED of a tertiary referral hospital to establish the pre-intervention, peri-intervention and post-intervention prescribing profile of ED medical practitioners. Prescriber numbers were used to obtain drug data for all oxycodone-containing prescriptions from the Queensland Health Medicines Regulation and Quality Unit database. The intervention included education sessions, a staff information email, posters within the ED, and a patient brochure. It was conducted with relevant nurses, pharmacists and prescribing doctors. RESULTS: In the pre-intervention period, 656/17 371 (38 per 1000) discharged patients were prescribed oxycodone, compared to 180/5938 (30 per 1000) during the intervention, and 602/20 505 (29 per 1000) post-intervention. This equated to a decrease of 8 per 1000 (95% CI 5-12 per 1000) and a 22% (95% CI 13-31%) relative prescribing reduction. The mean total number of tablets of oxycodone per prescription decreased from 16.7 (SD 16.5) pre-intervention, to 12.7 (SD 6.0) peri-intervention, to 10.7 (SD 5.2) post-intervention. After the intervention, there was an increase in discharge communications to general practitioners by 15.4% (95% CI 9.7-21.1%). CONCLUSIONS: An ED prescriber-targeted intervention reduced overall prescribing of oxycodone and improved communication at discharge. The prescribing intervention is one strategy that may be used by ED medical staff to improve patient safety and opioid stewardship in Australia.