Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25314279›Full record

ArticleThe West Indian medical journal2014

A clinical audit of the management of acute asthmatic attacks in adults and children presenting to an emergency department.

S Dasgupta, E W Williams, C Walters, D Eldemire-Shearer, J Williams-Johnson

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The West Indian medical journal, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 35% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

S DasguptaEmergency Medicine Division, Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica. shuvra.dasgupta@gmail.com.
E W WilliamsEmergency Medicine Division, Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
C WaltersOffice of Research, Dean's Office, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
D Eldemire-ShearerDepartment of Community Health and Psychiatry, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
J Williams-JohnsonEmergency Medicine Division, Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
Intensive Care Foundation · AUOffice of the Director · USUniversity of the West Indies System · JM

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo compare the guidelines in the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) acute asthma management protocol with actual practice in the Accident and Emergency Department.

methodsA prospective docket audit was done of all consecutive medical records of patients, presenting with a diagnosed acute asthmatic attack between June 1 and September 30, 2010, to the emergency department of the UHWI. A convenient sample was used. The audit tool used was created from the UHWI protocol for the emergency management of asthma in adults and children, as well as the British Adult Asthma Audit Tool. The audit tool assessed three main sections: initial assessment, initial management, and discharge considerations. Data were coded and entered in Microsoft Excel 2007 and statistical analyses conducted using Stata version 10. Management patterns were compared to the actual protocol and then discussed.

resultsA total of 15 864 patients were seen during the study period. Of these, a total of 293 patients were seen for a presentation of acute asthma. More females (57.3%) than males were seen, with the mean age of 33.53 years. Only 31% of patients were given a severity assessment of mild, moderate, or severe. Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was attempted and recorded in 62%, but only 18.1% of patients had both pre and post PEFR done. Only 4.4% of patients were administered nebulizations within the suggested time frame. Positively, 94.2% of patients were given a prescription for inhaled corticosteroids and bronchodilators to continue post-discharge.

conclusionsAcute asthma management still remains an area of medical practice that continues to have long-standing difficulties. Failure to assess and document the severity of asthma attacks along with the under-utilization of PEFR was noted.

Identifiers

PMID25314279
PMCPMC4663904
OpenAlexW2314709095

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.