Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34853108›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2021

Odds of return: a prospective study using provider assessment to predict short-term patient return visits to the emergency department.

Scott Fruhan, Corey B Bills

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Observational
  3. Article
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

2 authors.

Scott FruhanDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Corey B BillsDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA corey.bills@cuanschutz.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-3456-6008

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePrevious studies have assessed patient-level characteristics associated with emergency department (ED) return visits, but none have used provider assessment. We prospectively investigate whether clinical providers could accurately predict ED return visits.

methodsProspective cohort study.

settingSingle academically affiliated urban county hospital.

participantsDischarged ED patients over a 14-month period with a provider assessment of the likelihood of patient return within 7 days of ED discharge.

main outcome measuresThe primary outcome of interest was a return visit to the ED within 7 days. Additional outcome measures included a return visit within 72 hours and a return visit resulting in admission. We also measured the accuracy of provider gestalt, and provide measures of sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios.

resultsOf the 11 922 ED discharges included in this study, providers expected 2116 (17.7%) to result in a return visit within 7 days. Providers were much more likely to perceive a return visit if the patient left against medical advice (OR: 5.97, 95% CI: 4.67 to 7.62), or was homeless (OR: 5.69, 95% CI: 5.14 to 6.29). Patients who actually returned were also more likely to be homeless, English speaking and to have left the ED against medical advice on the initial encounter. The strongest predictor of a return visit at both 72 hours and 7 days in multivariable modelling was provider assessment (OR: 3.77, 95% CI: 3.25 to 4.37; OR: 3.72, 95% CI: 3.29 to 4.21, respectively). Overall sensitivity and specificity of provider gestalt as a measure of patient return within 7 days were 47% and 87%, respectively. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 3.51 and 0.61, respectively.

conclusionsClinician assessment was the strongest predictor of a return visit in this dataset. Clinician assessment may be used as a way to screen patients during the index visit and enrol them in efforts to decrease return visits.

Indexed as

Emergency Service, HospitalPatient ReadmissionHumansPatient DischargeProspective StudiesRetrospective Studiesaccident & emergency medicinehealth informaticsrisk management

Identifiers

PMID34853108
PMCPMC8638466

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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.