Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35942579›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of international medical research2022

Management of acute diarrhea in the emergency department of a tertiary care university medical center.

Suha J Jabak, Lamees Kawam, Ali El Mokahal, Ala I Sharara

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of international medical research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 44% 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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Suha J JabakDivision of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3669-3377
Lamees KawamDivision of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
Ali El MokahalDivision of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
Ala I ShararaDivision of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
American University of Beirut Medical Center · LB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesTo examine the management of acute diarrhea in the emergency department (ED) of a large university medical center.

methodsRetrospective cross-sectional study over a 10-month period of adult patients (age ≥18 years) presenting to the ED with acute diarrhea.

resultsData for 780 patients were reviewed; 101 met the exclusion criteria. Of the 679 patients with acute community-acquired diarrhea, 582 (85.7%) were discharged home and constituted the study cohort of mostly healthy adults (mean age: 32.5 ± 14.5 years). The rate of antibiotic prescription at discharge was 26%. Inappropriate use of antibiotics occurred in 28% of the patients. The presence of fever (odds ratio (OR) = 3.52), leukocytosis (OR = 1.72), and older age (OR = 1.16) were predictors of antibiotic prescription. Patients with dehydration, comorbidities, or bloody diarrhea were more likely to receive antibiotics. Microbiological studies and cross-sectional imaging were ordered in 12.4% and 11.7% of the patients, respectively, but provided very low yield (<10% for both) resulting in significantly higher visit charges. Inappropriately prescribed antibiotics at discharge resulted in higher charges in the ED compared with no antibiotic prescription.

conclusionAcute diarrhea management in our ED is suboptimal and does not adhere to practice guidelines, resulting in unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, investigations, and cost.

Indexed as

DiarrheaEmergency Service, HospitalAcademic Medical CentersAdolescentAdultAnti-Bacterial AgentsCross-Sectional StudiesHumansMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesTertiary Health CareYoung AdultAnti-Bacterial AgentsantibioticsenteritisGastroenteritisguidelineshealth economicsresource utilization

Identifiers

PMID35942579
PMCPMC9373141
OpenAlexW4291283109

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.