ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This analysis addresses the characteristics of two emergency department (ED) patient populations defined by three model diseases (hip fractures, respiratory, and cardiac symptoms) making use of survey (primary) and routine (secondary) data from hospital information systems (HIS). Our aims were to identify potential systematic inconsistencies between both data samples and implications of their use for future ED-based health services research. METHODS: The research network EMANET prospectively collected primary data (n=1442) from 2017-2019 and routine data from 2016 (n=9329) of eight EDs in a major German city. Patient populations were characterized using socio-structural (age, gender) and health- and care-related variables (triage, transport to ED, case and discharge type, multi-morbidity). Statistical comparisons between descriptive results of primary and secondary data samples for each variable were conducted using binomial test, chi-square goodness-of-fit test, or one-sample t-test according to scale level. RESULTS: Differences in distributions of patient characteristics were found in nearly all variables in all three disease populations, especially with regard to transport to ED, discharge type and prevalence of multi-morbidity. Recruitment conditions (e.g., patient non-response), project-specific inclusion criteria (e.g., age and case type restrictions) as well as documentation routines and practices of data production (e.g., coding of diagnoses) affected the composition of primary patient samples. Time restrictions of recruitment procedures did not generate meaningful differences regarding the distribution of characteristics in primary and secondary data samples. CONCLUSIONS: Primary and secondary data types maintain their advantages and shortcomings in the context of emergency medicine health services research. However, differences in the distribution of selected variables are rather small. The identification and classification of these effects for data interpretation as well as the establishment of monitoring systems in the data collection process are pivotal. TRIAL REGISTRATION: DRKS00011930 (EMACROSS), DRKS00014273 (EMAAGE), NCT03188861 (EMASPOT).
Subject(s)
Emergency Medicine , Multimorbidity , Humans , Emergency Service, Hospital , Health Services Research , Triage/methodsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to examine the effects of an early perinatal prevention program offered to mothers and families suffering from significant psychosocial burden. METHODS: All mothers giving birth in a Berlin university hospital during Jan-Aug 2013 were screened with a standardized 27-item questionnaire by trained staff. Mothers with a screening-score ≥ 3, who were not enrolled in other public support programs, were defined as psychosocially burdened. They received a detailed needs assessment and were followed up with counseling. When necessary, affected mothers were voluntarily guided through to specialized 'early support' institutions during the 12-month-intervention period. The historical control group (care-as-usual) consisted of children born at the same hospital the year before.At 12 months postnatally, we interviewed mothers in both groups to assess their stress burden and coping skills by Parenting Stress Index and assessed the current childcare condition. Differences between the groups were compared by multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: The intervention group and the control group included 225 and 157 families, respectively. After 12-months, mothers in the 'early support' intervention group had significantly less often depression (adjusted odds ratio 0.25, 95%-confidence interval 0.07-0.94), less often a disturbed relationship with the parenting partner (0.34, 0.10-1.14) and reported reduced stress due to the child's demands (0.40, 0.15-1.10) compared to the control group. Childcare indicators did not differ between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: In mothers at high psychosocial risk, the 'early support' intervention program Babylotse-Plus seemed to reduce the occurrence of depression and several stress indicators in the first postnatal year.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The well-being and healthy development of children are at risk in families with severe psychosocial stress. In Germany, simple and valid screening instruments are lacking to identify families in need of early support. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to examine the diagnostic accuracy of a simple perinatal screening form to identify families at high psychosocial risk. METHODS: For every mother giving birth at Charité Berlin between January and August 2013 the short Babylotse-Plus screening form with 27 items was filled out by medical staff. Completing the form took about 5 min. After calculating a sum score, values of ≥3 were defined as "likely at risk". A one-hour comprehensive standardized interview with the parents after birth served as the reference standard for assessing family resources and stress factors. RESULTS: Among the 279 participants included in the analyses, 215 were "likely at risk" and 64 had a low or no risk, the latter were randomly selected among all families with scores <3. The screening form had an excellent sensitivity (98.9 %; 95 % confidence interval 93.4-99.9 %) to detect families likely at risk, whereas its specificity was only low (33.0 %; 95 % confidence interval 30.5-33.5 %). This resulted in a rather poor positive likelihood ratio of 1.5 but a very good negative likelihood ratio of 0.03. CONCLUSIONS: The screening form identified families with psychosocial risks well, but many families with low or no risk were falsely defined as being at risk. Before recommending the screening instrument for clinical practice, further studies are needed in different settings to improve the specificity without reducing its high sensitivity.
