Factors affecting triage accuracy in patients with a definitive diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction

Background: Triage is important to identifying patients with patients acute myocardial infartction (AMI) patients' triage accuracy, this research aims to study it in the ED, regarding factors affecting it.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed data from patients with an ultimate diagnosis of AMI who had been admitted to the ED of Imam Hossein Hospital in Shahroud, Iran, over the last three years and had met the study criteria. Data were collected from the hospital archives.

Results: The triage accuracy was 82 % for a total of 400 patients with an ultimate diagnosis of AMI. Men, smokers, and those who had complained about chest pain and sweating at the time of their admission, as well as patients who had used pre-hospital medical services, had higher triage accuracy; indigestion or burning sensation had led to under triage. Based on multiple regression analysis, gender, chest pain, and sweating were found to be significant predictors of triage accuracy. Accordingly, male patients and those with chest pain and sweating had higher triage accuracy.

Conclusions: Despite the increase in triage accuracy rate in this study compared to previous studies, under triage continues to be a problem in the triage of patients with an ultimate diagnosis of AMI.

Keywords: AMI; Accuracy; Emergency department; Triage.