Correlation between classification in risk categories and clinical aspects and outcomes.
Gabriella Novelli Oliveira, Cássia Regina Vancini-Campanharo, Maria Carolina Barbosa Teixeira Lopes and 3 others
PMID 27982310WHAT IT FOUND
In an emergency department, nurse-assigned orange or red triage categories had the highest percentage of hospitalization and death, while most patients were green or yellow and discharged.
Triage tracked severity, but not every symptom.
Key findings
01Orange or red triage categories had the highest percentages of hospitalization and death.
02Most patients were triaged green or yellow, and discharge was the most frequent outcome.
03Red triage had the highest percentage of trauma, orange had the highest percentage of respiratory symptoms, and green had the highest percentage of inability to move a body part; other symptoms did not show a statistically significant difference.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done in one public university hospital, so the mix of patients and outcomes may not apply elsewhere. It used existing triage forms, not a designed intervention, so it cannot show that triage caused hospitalization or death. The risk classification protocol was not validated. 117 of 813 forms were excluded because they were incomplete or illegible. The authors noted they could not compare results with another facility.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that triage colour caused hospitalization or death. This was a record study at one hospital, and the protocol was not validated, so it shows association only.