Risk factors and effect of dyspnea inappropriate treatment in adults’ emergency department: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Dyspnea is a frequent symptom in adults’ emergency departments (EDs). Misdiagnosis at initial clinical examination is common, leading to early inappropriate treatment and increased in-hospital mortality. Risk factors of inappropriate treatment assessable at early examination remain undescribed herein. The objective of this study was to identify clinical risk factors of dyspnea and inappropriate treatment in patients admitted to ED. This is an observational retrospective cohort study. Patients over the age of 15 who were admitted to adult EDs of the University Hospital of Toulouse (France) with dyspnea were included from 1 July to 31 December 2019. The primary end-point was dyspnea and inappropriate treatment was initiated at ED. Inappropriate treatment was defined by looking at the final diagnosis of dyspnea at hospital discharge and early treatment provided. Afterward, this early treatment at ED was compared to the recommended treatment defined by the International Guidelines for Acute Heart Failure, bacterial pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma or pulmonary embolism. A total of 2123 patients were analyzed. Of these, 809 (38%) had inappropriate treatment in ED. Independent risk factors of inappropriate treatment were: age over 75 years (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.18–1.81), history of heart disease (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.07–1.62) and lung disease (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.21–1.78), SpO2 <90% (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.37–2.02), bilateral rale (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.01–1.66), focal cracklings (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.05–1.66) and wheezing (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.31–2.03). In multivariate analysis, under-treatment significantly increased in-hospital mortality (OR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.29–3.52) compared to appropriate treatment. Over-treatment nonsignificantly increased in-hospital mortality (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 0.99–2.06). Inappropriate treatment is frequent in patients admitted to ED for dyspnea. Patients older than 75 years, with comorbidities (heart or lung disease), hypoxemia (SpO2 <90%) or abnormal pulmonary auscultation (especially wheezing) are at risk of inappropriate treatment.