Emily L Aaronson1, Naomi George2, Kei Ouchi2, Hui Zheng3, Jason Bowman4, Derek Monette5, Juliet Jacobsen6, Vicki Jackson6. 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Lawrence Center for Quality and Safety, Massachusetts General Hospital and Massachusetts General Physicians' Organization, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Electronic address: emily.aaronson@mgh.harvard.edu. 2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 3. Biostatistic Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 4. Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 5. Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 6. Division of Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract
CONTEXT: Heart failure (HF) is associated with symptom exacerbations and risk of mortality after an emergency department (ED) visit. Although emergency physicians (EPs) treat symptoms of HF, often the opportunity to connect with palliative care is missed. The "surprise question" (SQ) "Would you be surprised if this patient died in the next 12 months?" is a simple tool to identify patients at risk for 12-month mortality. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of the SQ when used by EPs to assess patients with HF. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study in which clinicians applied the SQ to patients presenting to the ED with symptoms of HF. Chart review and review of death records were completed. The primary outcome was accuracy of the surprise question to predict 12-month mortality. A univariate analysis for potential predictors of 12-month mortality was performed. RESULTS: During the study period, 199 patients were identified, and complete data were available for 97% of observations (n = 193). The one-year mortality was 29%. EPs reported that "they would not be surprised" if the patient died within the next 12 months in 53% of cases. 42.7% of these patients died within 12 months compared to 13.3% in the "would be surprised" group. There was a strong association with death in the "not surprised" group (odds ratio 4.85, 95% CI 2.34-9.98, P < 0.0001). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the SQ were 78.6%, 56.9%, 42.7%, and 86.7%, respectively, with c-statistic = 0.68. CONCLUSION: The SQ screening tool can assist ED providers in identifying HF patients that would benefit from early palliative care involvement.
CONTEXT: Heart failure (HF) is associated with symptom exacerbations and risk of mortality after an emergency department (ED) visit. Although emergency physicians (EPs) treat symptoms of HF, often the opportunity to connect with palliative care is missed. The "surprise question" (SQ) "Would you be surprised if this patientdied in the next 12 months?" is a simple tool to identify patients at risk for 12-month mortality. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of the SQ when used by EPs to assess patients with HF. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study in which clinicians applied the SQ to patients presenting to the ED with symptoms of HF. Chart review and review of death records were completed. The primary outcome was accuracy of the surprise question to predict 12-month mortality. A univariate analysis for potential predictors of 12-month mortality was performed. RESULTS: During the study period, 199 patients were identified, and complete data were available for 97% of observations (n = 193). The one-year mortality was 29%. EPs reported that "they would not be surprised" if the patientdied within the next 12 months in 53% of cases. 42.7% of these patientsdied within 12 months compared to 13.3% in the "would be surprised" group. There was a strong association with death in the "not surprised" group (odds ratio 4.85, 95% CI 2.34-9.98, P < 0.0001). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the SQ were 78.6%, 56.9%, 42.7%, and 86.7%, respectively, with c-statistic = 0.68. CONCLUSION: The SQ screening tool can assist ED providers in identifying HF patients that would benefit from early palliative care involvement.
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