Association Between Intra-Hospital Uncontrolled Glycemia and Health Outcomes in Patients with Diabetes: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.

BACKGROUND: Many people are still getting affected by uncontrolled glycemic events during hospital admission, which encompasses hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and high glycemic variability. INTRODUCTION: Primary studies have shown an association of glycemic dysregulation with increased length of hospital stay and mortality among overall patients, however, there is no systematic review of current evidence on the association between uncontrolled in-hospital glycemia in patients with diabetes and health outcomes. This study aimed to systematically review the current evidence on the association between uncontrolled in-hospital glycemia in patients with diabetes and health outcomes. METHODS: The association between glycemic dysregulation and health outcomes for inpatients with diabetes was systematically reviewed. PubMed, Embase, and LILACS databases were searched. Two independent reviewers were involved in each of the following steps: screening titles, abstracts, and fulltexts; assessing the methodological quality; and extracting data from included reviews. Descriptive analysis method was used. RESULTS: Seven cohort studies were included, and only two had a prospective design, consisting of 7,174 hospitalized patients with diabetes. In-hospital occurrence of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and glycemic variability were assessed, and outcomes were mortality, infections, renal complications, and adverse events. Among the exposure and outcomes, an association was observed between severe hypoglycemia and mortality, hyperglycemia and infection, and hyperglycemia and adverse events. CONCLUSION: In-hospital uncontrolled glycemia in patients with diabetes is associated with poor health outcomes. More studies should be conducted for proper investigation because diabetes is a complex condition. Effects of glycemic dysregulation should be investigated on the basis of overall health of a patient instead from only organ-target perspective, which makes the investigation difficult.

Effectiveness of the Manchester Triage System on time to treatment in the emergency department: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review was to synthesize the best available evidence on the effectiveness of the Manchester Triage System (MTS) on time to treatment (TtT) for patients who visit the emergency department (ED). INTRODUCTION: The objectives of the MTS are to define a safe wait time for medical attention. Triage systems, such as the MTS, use criteria to ensure patient safety by determining appropriate wait times for each individual who visits the ED. The TtT is the time interval between arrival at the ED to initiation of therapeutic interventions. A short TtT is important in different clinical situations and may reduce infections and mortality. The MTS may have an impact on the TtT. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review considered studies that included any patients visiting the ED with any complaints or medical diagnoses who were triaged using the MTS by nurses or doctors, and the TtT was measured. This review considered randomized controlled trials, as well as quasi-experimental, before-and-after, case-control and analytical cross-sectional studies. Studies published after 1994 in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German were considered for inclusion. METHOD: This systematic review was conducted in accordance with JBI methodology. The search strategy aimed to find both published and unpublished studies in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Lilacs, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Google Scholar, Banco de Teses - CAPES, and Digital Dissertations. The results of this search were assessed by one reviewer who excluded duplicate results. Titles and abstracts were screened by two independent reviewers for assessment against the inclusion criteria. The full texts of potentially eligible papers were retrieved and independently assessed by two reviewers using a standardized critical appraisal instrument from JBI. Data were extracted from studies included in the review and were presented using a narrative form. Tables were used to summarize the characteristics and findings of the studies. RESULTS: The review included two before-and-after studies, with a total of 2265 participants. One study was of moderate quality, and the other was of high quality. One study included only patients with acute ischemic stroke, while the other included patients with any complaint. Both studies were performed with consecutive samples. The median TtT was 10 minutes before implementing the MTS and 12 minutes after implementing the MTS in the study that included patients with any complaints. In the study including patients with acute ischemic stroke, the median TtT decreased by 15 minutes after implementing the MTS (from 75 to 60 minutes). Because of the heterogeneity in the characteristics of the populations of the two studies, the results could not be pooled. CONCLUSIONS: The MTS reduced the median TtT for patients triaged at the highest priority levels (orange and yellow), but it did not decrease the median TtT in all patients. The existing evidence base regarding the effectiveness of the MTS comes from two studies with methodological limitations that could not be pooled. The evidence indicates the MTS may confer benefit to some patients who visit the ED by reducing TtT, but not for all patients. Further research is needed before firm conclusions can be made.

Evaluation of triage quality in the emergency department: a scoping review protocol.

REVIEW OBJECTIVE/QUESTIONS: The objective of this scoping review is to explore the existing literature on the evaluation of the quality of triage for patients of all ages and medical conditions in emergency departments (EDs).The question for this review is: How is triage in the ED evaluated? More specifically, we are interested in answering the following sub-questions.

Assessing sensitivity and specificity of the Manchester Triage System in the evaluation of acute coronary syndrome in adult patients in emergency care: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Triage is the first assessment and sorting process used to prioritize patients arriving in the emergency department (ED). As a triage tool, the Manchester Triage System (MTS) must have a high sensitivity to minimize the occurrence of under-triage, but must not compromise specificity to avoid the occurrence of overtriage. Sensitivity and specificity of the MTS can be calculated using the frequency of appropriately assigned clinical priority levels for patients presenting to the ED. However, although there are well established criteria for the prioritization of patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS), several studies have reported difficulties when evaluating patients with this condition. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review was to synthesize the best available evidence on assessing the sensitivity and specificity of the MTS for screening high-level priority adult patients presenting to the ED with ACS. METHOD: The current review considered studies that evaluated the use of the MTS in the risk classification of adult patients in the ED. In this review, studies that investigated the priority level, as established by the MTS to screen patients under suspicion of ACS or the sensitivity and specificity of the MTS, for screening patients before the medical diagnosis of ACS were included. This review included both experimental and epidemiological study designs. RESULTS: The results were presented in a narrative synthesis. Six studies were appraised by the independent reviewers. All appraised studies enrolled a consecutive or random sample of patients and presented an overall moderate methodological quality, and all of them were included in this review. A total of 54,176 participants were included in the six studies. All studies were retrospective. Studies included in this review varied in content and data reporting. Only two studies reported sensitivity and specificity values or all the necessary data to calculate sensitivity and specificity. The remaining four studies presented either a sensitivity analysis or the number of true positives and false negatives. However, these four studies were conducted considering only data from patients diagnosed with ACS. Sensitivity values were relatively uniform among the studies: 0.70-0.80. A specificity of 0.59 was reported in the study including only patients with non-traumatic chest pain. On the other hand, in the study that included patients with any complaint, the specificity of MTS to screen patients with ACS was 0.97. CONCLUSION: The current review demonstrates that the MTS has a moderate sensitivity to evaluate patients with ACS. This may compromise time to treatment in the ED, an important variable in the prognosis of ACS. Atypical presentation of ACS, or high specificity, may also explain the moderate sensitivity demonstrated in this review. However, because of minimal data, it is not possible to confirm this hypothesis. It is difficult to determine the acceptable level of sensitivity or specificity to ensure that a certain triage system is safe.

Sensibilidade e especificidade do Sistema Manchester de Classificação de Risco na priorização de pacientes com infarto agudo do miocárdio que apresentam dor torácica / Sensitivity and specificity of Manchester Triage System in the prioritization of patients with acute myocardial infarction who present chest pain

Introdução: O Sistema Manchester de Classificação de Risco tem como objetivo definir a prioridade clínica para atendimento médico de pacientes nos serviços de emergência. A avaliação de pacientes com suspeita de infarto agudo do miocárdio com sintomas típicos como a dor torácica realizada por meio do Sistema Manchester exige adequada sensibilidade e especificidade do sistema ao determinar a prioridade para atendimento médico. Objetivos: Os objetivos deste estudo foram integrar as melhores evidências disponíveis quanto a sensibilidade e especificidade do Sistema Manchester na classificação de pacientes com relação ao diagnóstico de síndrome coronariana aguda; estimar a sensibilidade e especificidade do Sistema Manchester na classificação de pacientes com dor torácica para a adequada priorização no que se refere ao diagnóstico de infarto agudo do miocárdio num hospital geral de ensino na cidade de São Paulo; e verificar associação entre o desempenho do Sistema Manchester na avaliação desses pacientes e variáveis selecionadas. Método: Este estudo foi desenvolvido em duas etapas, sendo a primeira uma revisão sistemática da literatura realizada segundo metodologia de revisões de acurácia de testes diagnósticos do Joanna Briggs Institute. Na segunda etapa do estudo foram estimadas a sensibilidade e a especificidade do Sistema Manchester na avaliação de pacientes com infarto agudo do miocárdio por meio de um estudo metodológico, transversal e retrospectivo. A sensibilidade e a especificidade do Sistema Manchester foram estimadas por meio da verificação da classificação estabelecida para pacientes com dor torácica que receberam ou não o diagnóstico médico de infarto agudo do miocárdio após a classificação. Resultados: Foram incluídos na revisão sistemática seis estudos com total de 54.176 participantes, todos de qualidade metodológica moderada, que apontaram valores de sensibilidade entre 70% e 80%. Dois estudos que apresentaram os dados necessários para o cálculo de especificidade, tiveram valores calculados de 59% e 97%. A amostra do estudo primário incluiu 10.087 episódios de classificação, sendo 52,3% de pacientes do sexo feminino com média de idade de 43,6 anos (DP=17,6). Do total de episódios, 139 tinham diagnóstico de infarto. A sensibilidade do Sistema Manchester foi de 44,6% e a especificidade foi de 91,3%. Houve associação estatisticamente significativa entre o desempenho do Sistema Manchester e a idade dos pacientes (p<0,001), com maior frequência de classificação incorreta nas faixas etárias mais altas. Não houve associação entre o sexo dos pacientes e o desempenho do Sistema Manchester. Conclusão: a recomendação para uso do Sistema Manchester na avaliação de pacientes no serviço de urgência em relação ao diagnóstico de síndrome coronariana aguda foi de grau B segundo graus de recomendação estabelecidos pelo Joanna Briggs Institute, o que remete a uma recomendação "fraca" para uma determinada estratégia de gestão da saúde. Essa conclusão decorre sobretudo da heterogeneidade dos critérios de inclusão e portanto das amostras dos estudos incluídos. Os resultados do estudo evidenciam a necessidade de se discutir formas de melhorar a sensibilidade desse sistema para a adequada priorização de pacientes com dor torácica.

Introduction: The Manchester Triage System aims to define the clinical priority of patients for medical care in the emergency department. The evaluation of patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction presenting typical symptoms such as chest pain using the Manchester Triage System requires proper sensitivity and specificity of the system in order to determine medical care priority. Objectives: The objectives of this study were: to integrate the best available evidence regarding the sensitivity and specificity of the Manchester Triage System in the evaluation of patients with the diagnose of acute coronary syndrome; to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the Manchester Triage System in the classification of patients with chest pain to adequate prioritization in relation to the diagnose of acute myocardial infarction in a general teaching hospital in the city of São Paulo; to verify the association between the performance of the Manchester Triage System in the evaluation of these patients and selected variables. Methods: This study was developed in two stages, the first one consisted in a systematic review performed according to the methodology of diagnostic test accuracy systematic reviews from Joanna Briggs Institute. In the second stage of the study the sensitivity and specificity of the Manchester Triage System in the evaluation of patients with acute myocardial infarction were estimated though a methodological retrospective cross-sectional study. The sensitivity and specificity of the Manchester Triage System were estimated by verifying the classification of patients with chest pain who received or not the medical diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Results: The systematic review included six studies with a total of 54,176 participants, all of the studies with moderate methodological quality. The studies pointed sensitivity values from 70% to 80%. The specificity values calculated from two studies containing the necessary data were 59% and 97%. The sample of the performed primary study included 10,087 episodes of classification, 52.3% of the patients were females with average age of 43.58 years (SD=17.6). Of the total episodes, 139 had the diagnosis of infarction. The sensitivity of the Manchester Triage System was 44.6% and the specificity was 91.3%. There was statistically significant association between the performance of the Manchester Triage System and the age of the patients (p<0.001), with a higher frequency of incorrect classification in the older age groups. There was no observed association between the sex of the patients and the performance of the Manchester Triage System. Conclusion: Recommendation for the utilization of the Manchester Triage System in the evaluation of patients in emergency services to correct prioritization related to the diagnose of acute coronary syndrome was graded B according to the Joanna Briggs Institute grades of recommendation, which refers to a weak recommendation to a certain strategy for healthcare management. This finding is due to the heterogeneity of the inclusion criteria and therefore the samples of the included studies. The results of this study highlight the necessity of discussion about ways to improve the sensitivity of this system, for the adequate prioritization of patients with chest pain.

Assessing sensitivity and specificity of the Manchester Triage System in the evaluation of acute coronary syndrome in adult patients in emergency care: a systematic review protocol.

REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the Manchester Triage System in the evaluation of adult patients with acute coronary syndrome in emergency departments. BACKGROUND: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a group of clinical conditions that include myocardial infarction with or without elevation of the ST segment and unstable angina. The term acute myocardial infarction (AMI) can be applied when there is evidence of myocardium necrosis with a clinical sign compatible with myocardial ischaemia. Acute myocardial infarction can be identified using clinical methods including electrocardiography (ECG), elevation in myocardium necrosis biomarkers, and imaging. Acute myocardial infarction is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, and may be the first manifestation of coronary artery disease.Estimating the prevalence of coronary diseases in the general population is quite a complex task. In 2010, the prevalence of coronary diseases was reported as 6.4% among the general population in the United States.One of the main manifestations of ACS is chest pain. However, even in the presence of this typical symptom, early diagnosis of ACS is a challenge for health care professionals who initially attend to these patients. Several authors have indicated the importance and difficulty of recognizing chest pain of cardiac origin, where immediate medical attention is required.Triage, or risk classification, is a clinical management tool used in emergency services to guide patient flow when the need for medical attention exceeds that available. The Manchester Triage Group was developed in 1994 in the United Kingdom. The aim was to establish a consensus among physicians and nurses in the emergency room by creating a triage pattern focused on the development of the following:Thus, the Manchester Triage System (MTS) was created. The MTS simplifies the clinical management of each patient, and consequently, the whole service, by utilizing a system that defines the clinical priority for adults and children. The assessment of clinical priority needs to be fast; therefore, it is separated from the process of medical diagnosis. Restricting the time allocated for patient classification prevents an attempt to make a medical diagnosis at the time of classification.The main goal of the MTS is to set a time limit for each patient to be attended to safely, that is, with no risk to the patient's health. One of the main principles of the system is the higher the perceived risk to the patient's health, the shorter the waiting time for medical attendance. The MTS comprises a scale of five priority levels ().(Table is included in full-text article.)The MTS is composed of 52 distinct flowcharts that "guide" the triage decision-making process. Based on the main presenting symptom of the patient seeking emergency care, the health care professional must choose one of the 52 flowcharts in order to proceed with evaluation. Classification into one of the five clinical priority levels is set for each patient using the selected flowchart.The lack of a risk classification system within an emergency room implies attendance on a first-come, first-served basis, which in many cases may jeopardize a patient's safety, as patients whose health status is more unstable or severe are not prioritized.The MTS is a tool that aims to define the degree of severity and associated safe waiting time for patients in the emergency department, establishing an order of priority for medical care. It determines the clinical priority of every patient who comes to the emergency department. It is possible to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the MTS by calculating the frequency of appropriately assigned clinical priority levels to patients presenting at the emergency department.A "diagnostic test" can be understood as a laboratory or imaging test: however, the concepts related to "test" also apply to clinical information from other findings, such as physical examination and patient history. The sensitivity of a test is understood as the capacity of the test to detect individuals who present with a particular condition, or the proportion of individuals with a particular condition who have been tested positive for this condition (true positive). Highly sensitive tests can be used at the beginning of the diagnostic process, when a great number of possibilities are being considered, with the intention of excluding as many options as possible. The specificity of a test is defined as the capacity of the test to identify individuals who do not have a particular medical condition, or the proportion of individuals without the condition who have a negative test (true negative). A triage system that presents a good sensitivity can minimize the occurrence of undertriage, the same way, systems with suitable specificity can avoid the occurrence of overtriage.The assessment of patients with ACS suspected using the MTS, can occur through different flow charts, since the patient does not always have typical symptoms and concerns such as chest pain as the main complaint. For this reason, in addition to the flowchart "chest pain", other flowcharts, including "shortness of breath in adults", "unwell adult", "collapsed adult", and "palpitations", enable distinguishing chest pain and other urgent conditions from non-urgent conditions, and can assist the appraiser to establish the highest priority level to treat patients with these urgent conditions.According to the algorithm from the American Heart Association, every patient who presents symptoms of chest discomfort suggestive of ischaemia must receive medical attention within 10 minutes. Therefore, in order to recognize patients in those conditions, the health care professional applying MTS must establish priority levels of "red" or "orange", thereby setting a safe waiting time for these patients.Although there are well-established criteria for the prioritization of patients with suspected ACS, several studies have reported the difficulties of evaluating patients with these conditions. Various factors can interfere with the outcome of this process, such as atypical presentation of symptoms, AMI classification, patient age, and professional skill.Primary studies have addressed the issue from different perspectives. Studies have been conducted to evaluate the ability of nurses using MTS to detect high-risk patients with chest pain, the impact of MTS on short-term mortality in AMI, and the sensitivity and specificity of MTS for patients with ACS, and to assess whether the MTS was used effectively in patients admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome.These studies concluded that use of the MTS by nurses is a sensitive method for identifying high risk cardiac chest pain, but further studies are required to assess whether additional training can improve the sensitivity of MTS. The MTS safeguards patients with typical AMI presentation and ST elevation during myocardial infarction, and who are under 70 years of age. The MTS has a high sensitivity in prioritization (immediate/very urgent) of patients with ACS. Additionally, most patients admitted for ACS are initially triaged as "orange" or "yellow", an indication for prompt assessment in the emergency department. This has a positive effect on time to first medical assessment, but has no effect on time to hospital admission.A systematic review addressing a similar theme was published. The review evaluated the efficacy of MTS for all groups of patients and included studies that evaluated the MTS in relation to different outcomes. This proposed review is different as it will include primary studies with a specific sub-population (patients with ACS). Another important difference lies in the fact that the published review did not include critical appraisal of the primary studies included in review. A systematic review that synthesizes the available evidence on the sensitivity of MTS to evaluate patients with an ACS medical diagnosis is necessary to guide decisions related to the use or adoption of the instrument, as well as providing data that can contribute to improvements to the system.

Avaliação do conhecimento dos enfermeiros em relação às catecolaminas de infusão contínua / Evaluation of nurse’s knowledge regarding to catecholamine of continuous infusion

A administração de catecolaminas por via intravenosa é uma prática comum no ambiente hospitalar, principalmente em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI), Hemodiálise e Pronto Socorro (PS). Apesar de se tratar de um procedimento que demanda cuidados de enfermagem bastante específicos, este pode ser realizado por qualquer membro da equipe de enfermagem, até mesmo sem supervisão direta de um enfermeiro. Para prestar cuidados de enfermagem adequados aos pacientes que recebem catecolaminas por via intravenosa é necessário que o profissional que realiza o procedimento disponha de conhecimento específico acerca da prática realizada. Em unidades como UTI, PS e Hemodiálise, espera-se que o enfermeiro exerça supervisão direta desses cuidados, já que são unidades em que os pacientes apresentam condições mais críticas e geralmente instáveis. Desta forma, é esperado que o enfermeiro detenha todo o conhecimento necessário para administrar as catecolaminas com segurança, minimizando assim os riscos para o paciente. Estes conhecimentos devem ser aprofundados englobando desde ciências básicas como anatomia e fisiologia, até aspectos mais específicos como a escolha do cateter, recomendações de uso dos materiais disponíveis, conhecimentos farmacológicos direcionados e recomendações e cuidados durante a infusão desse tipo de medicamento. Este estudo avaliou o grau de conhecimento dos enfermeiros do Hospital Universitário (HU) da Universidade de São Paulo (USP) quanto à administração decatecolaminas de infusão contínua por via intravenosa. Foram sujeitos deste estudo somente os enfermeiros que atuam em unidades onde a administração de catecolaminas é prática comum. A pesquisa limitou-se aos enfermeiros que atuam em unidades de cuidados de adultos por considerar que há peculiaridades existentes no cuidado do paciente adulto e pediátrico no que diz respeito à administração de drogas ) vasoativas e à necessidade de atualização e vivência prática da situação. Assim, através de questionário estruturado, procedeu-se a avaliação do conhecimento dos enfermeiros atuantes nas unidades de Hemodiálise, PS de adultos e UTI de adultos com relação à administração de catecolaminas por via intravenosa. Os dados obtidos com a aplicação dos questionários foram submetidos a análises estatísticas para definir se o conhecimento apresentado pelos enfermeiros avaliados é condizente com o preconizado pela literatura para realização segura de tal procedimento.

Catecholamine management through intravenous route is a common practice in the hospital setting, mainly at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Hemodialysis and Emergency Room (ER). Although it\'s a procedure that demands very specific nursing care, this can be made by any member of the nursing staff, even without direct supervision of a nurse. For delivering optimal nursing care to patients who receive catecholamine through intravenous route, it\'s necessary the provider who makes the procedure to have specific knowledge on this practice. In settings like ICU, ER and Hemodialysis, the nurse is expected to have direct supervision in these procedures, once they are units where patients present more critical and generally unstable conditions. This way, the nurse is supposed to have all the knowledge necessary to manage catecholamine safely, thus minimizing the risks for the patient. This knowledge must be deepen involving from basic sciences such as anatomy and physiology, to more specific aspects, such as the catheter chosen, recommendations for use of available material, specified pharmacological knowledge and recommendations and care during infusion of this type of medication. This study evaluated the knowledge level of nurses from University Hospital (HU) of University of Sao Paulo (USP) regarding to catecholamine management of continuous infusion through intravenous route. Subjects of the study were only the nurses who work in setting where catecholaminemanagement is a common practice. The research limited to nurses who work in adult care, considering that there are peculiarities in adult and pediatric care related to vasoactive medication management and the need of upgrade and practical experience of the situation. Thus, through a structured questionnaire, it was made an evaluation of knowledge of nurses who work in Hemodialysis units, adult ER and adult ICU regarding to catecholamine management through intravenous route. The data obtained through the questionnaires were submitted to statistic analyses to define if the knowledge presented by the evaluated nurses is according to what is advised by literature to make safely such procedure.