Evaluation of current emergency department triage methods during a flu pandemic

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Pandemic influenza; Infections and Infestations; Influenza due to certain identified influenza virus

• Registration Number: ISRCTN56149622
• Lead Sponsor: Sheffield Teaching Hospital (UK)

Brief Summary

2015 results in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25587699

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2012-07-19
• Last Update Posted: 3 August 2020
• Study Completion: 2025-01-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Stopped
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 165

Inclusion Criteria

We will include all adults and children presenting the emergency department of the participating hospitals with suspected pandemic influenza during the peak of the pandemic.
Patients will be eligible for inclusion if they meet the current clinical diagnostic criteria of
1. Fever (pyrexia =38°C) or a history of fever and
2. Influenza-like illness (two or more of cough, sore throat, rhinorrhoea, limb or joint pain, headache, vomiting or diarrhoea) or
3. Severe and/or life-threatening illness suggestive of an infectious process or
4. If they meet any future clinical diagnostic criteria recommended by the Department of Health. The assessing clinician will determine eligibility and complete the data collection form if the patient is considered to have suspected pandemic influenza.

Exclusion Criteria

We will not attempt to retrospectively apply the clinical diagnostic criteria and exclude patients who appear to have been inappropriately included. Patients will only be excluded if they request exclusion from the study.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Observational
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<br> Patients will be followed-up until 30 days after attendance by hospital record review..<br><br> 1. Patients who die or require respiratory, cardiovascular or renal support they will be defined as having an adverse outcome.<br> 2. If they survive to 30 days without requiring respiratory, cardiovascular or renal support they will be defined as having no adverse outcome.<br> 3. If a severe pandemic leads to hospital resources being overwhelmed we will categorise patients as having an adverse outcome if they were deemed to have needed respiratory, cardiovascular or renal support but were denied this due to lack of resources.<br><br> At day 30 the anonymous data will be entered into the database.<br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<br> 1. Record whether patients are treated with antiviral agents or antibiotics<br> 2. The length and location of any hospital stay<br>