Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37167306›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

Validation of a pre-established triage protocol for critically ill patients in a COVID-19 outbreak under resource scarcity: A retrospective multicenter cohort study.

Nicolas Donat, Nouchan Mellati, Thibault Frumento, Audrey Cirodde, Sébastien Gette, Pierre Gildas Guitard, Clément Hoffmann, Benoît Veber, Thomas Leclerc

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact, top 90% 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

0 citing papers in PubMed, 0 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Nicolas DonatBurn Treatment Center and COVID-19 ICU, Percy Military Teaching Hospital, Clamart, France.ORCID 0000-0002-8416-578X
Nouchan MellatiICU, Mercy Regional Hospital, Metz, France.
Thibault FrumentoICU, Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, France.
Audrey CiroddeBurn Treatment Center and COVID-19 ICU, Percy Military Teaching Hospital, Clamart, France.
Sébastien GetteICU, Mercy Regional Hospital, Metz, France.
Pierre Gildas GuitardICU, Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, France.
Clément HoffmannBurn Treatment Center and COVID-19 ICU, Percy Military Teaching Hospital, Clamart, France.
Benoît VeberICU, Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, France.
Thomas LeclercBurn Treatment Center and COVID-19 ICU, Percy Military Teaching Hospital, Clamart, France.ORCID 0000-0003-3829-3286
Hôpital d'instruction des Armées Percy · FRUniversité de Rouen Normandie · FRPrince Medical (France) · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionIn case of COVID-19 related scarcity of critical care resources, an early French triage algorithm categorized critically ill patients by probability of survival based on medical history and severity, with four priority levels for initiation or continuation of critical care: P1 -high priority, P2 -intermediate priority, P3 -not needed, P4 -not appropriate. This retrospective multi-center study aimed to assess its classification performance and its ability to help saving lives under capacity saturation.

methodsICU patients admitted for severe COVID-19 without triage in spring 2020 were retrospectively included from three hospitals. Demographic data, medical history and severity items were collected. Priority levels were retrospectively allocated at ICU admission and on ICU day 7-10. Mortality rate, cumulative incidence of death and of alive ICU discharge, length of ICU stay and of mechanical ventilation were compared between priority levels. Calculated mortality and survival were compared between full simulated triage and no triage.

results225 patients were included, aged 63.1±11.9 years. Median SAPS2 was 40 (IQR 29-49). At the end of follow-up, 61 (27%) had died, 26 were still in ICU, and 138 had been discharged. Following retrospective initial priority allocation, mortality rate was 53% among P4 patients (95CI 34-72%) versus 23% among all P1 to P3 patients (95CI 17-30%, chi-squared p = 5.2e-4). The cumulative incidence of death consistently increased in the order P3, P1, P2 and P4 both at admission (Gray's test p = 3.1e-5) and at reassessment (p = 8e-5), and conversely for that of alive ICU discharge. Reassessment strengthened consistency. Simulation under saturation showed that this two-step triage protocol could have saved 28 to 40 more lives than no triage.

conclusionAlthough it cannot eliminate potentially avoidable deaths, this triage protocol proved able to adequately prioritize critical care for patients with highest probability of survival, hence to save more lives if applied.

Indexed as

COVID-19Cohort StudiesCritical IllnessDisease OutbreaksHumansIntensive Care UnitsMulticenter Studies as TopicRetrospective Studies

Identifiers

PMID37167306
PMCPMC10174588
OpenAlexW4376225179

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.