Informing the Alfred Registry for Emergency Care Project: An analysis of presenting complaint documentation in an emergency department

Matthew White; Gerard M O'Reilly; Rob D Mitchell; Michael Noonan; Ryan Hiller; Biswadev Mitra; Andrew Paton; Kathryn Pristupa; Carl Luckhoff; De Villiers Smit; Peter A Cameron

doi:10.1111/1742-6723.13984

Informing the Alfred Registry for Emergency Care Project: An analysis of presenting complaint documentation in an emergency department

Emerg Med Australas. 2022 Aug;34(4):620-622. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.13984. Epub 2022 Apr 20.

Authors

Matthew White^{1

2}, Gerard M O'Reilly^{3

4

5}, Rob D Mitchell^{3

4}, Michael Noonan^{3

5

6}, Ryan Hiller³, Biswadev Mitra^{3

4

5}, Andrew Paton^{3

7}, Kathryn Pristupa^{3

8}, Carl Luckhoff³, De Villiers Smit^{3

4

5}, Peter A Cameron^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
² Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³ Emergency and Trauma Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ National Trauma Research Institute, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Trauma Service, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Adult Retrieval Victoria, Ambulance Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁸ Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the feasibility of an ED presenting complaint (PC) tool that categorised all ED PCs into 10 categories.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 1445 consecutive patient encounters was conducted. The primary outcome was the frequency of use of the 10 PC categories.

Results: Of the 1203 patient encounters meeting inclusion criteria, the PC tool was completed by clinicians in 574 (47.7%). When completed, the tool's 10 options were selected for most presentations (72.3%).

Conclusion: The PC tool captured the majority of presenting complaints in 10 categories. External validation is recommended.

Keywords: emergency; health information; presenting complaint; quality; registry.

MeSH terms

Documentation
Emergency Medical Services*
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Humans
Registries
Retrospective Studies