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Desaturation on exercise has been suggested as a predictive feature for deterioration in COVID-19. The objective of this paper was to determine the feasibility and validity for the 40-steps desaturation test.A prospective observational cohort study was undertaken in patients assessed in hospital prior to discharge. One-hundred and fifty-two participants were screened between November 2020 and February 2021, and 64 were recruited to perform a 40-steps desaturation test. Patients who were able to perform the test were younger and less frail. Four patients were readmitted to hospital and one patient deteriorated within 30 days but no patient died.The majority of patients showed little change in saturations during the test, even with pre-existing respiratory pathology. Change in saturations, respiratory rate, heart rate and breathlessness were not predictive of death or readmission to hospital within 30 days. Of 13 patients who had a desaturation of 3% or more during exercise, none was readmitted to hospital within 30 days.Not enough patients with COVID-19 could be recruited to the study to provide evidence for the safety of the test in this patient group.The 40-steps desaturation test requires further evaluation to assess clinical utility.

Juliane Frydenlund,1 Julie Mackenhauer,1 Erika F Christensen,2– 4 Helle Collatz Christensen,5 Ulla Væggemose,6,7 Jacob Steinmetz,8,9 Søren Paaske Johnsen1 1Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg East, 9220, Denmark; 2Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, 9000, Denmark; 3Clinic for Internal and Emergency Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, 9000, Denmark; 4Emergency Medical Services, North Denmark Region, Aalborg, 9000, Denmark; 5Danish Clinical Quality Program, National Clinical Registries, Copenhagen, Denmark; 6Department of Research & Development, Prehospital Emergency Medical Services, Central Denmark Region, Aarhus, Denmark; 7Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; 8Department of Anaesthesia, Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; 9Danish Air Ambulance, Aarhus, DenmarkCorrespondence: Juliane Frydenlund, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 5, Aalborg East, 9220, Denmark, Tel +45 24671465, Email j.frydenlund@rn.dkBackground: Differences related to socioeconomic status (SES) in use of prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) have been reported. However, detailed data on potential disparities in the quality of the EMS according to SES are lacking.Methods: A nationwide cohort study of medical emergency calls made to the Danish emergency number 1-1-2 in the period 2016– 2017. To measure quality of care, performance indicators from the Danish Quality Registry for Prehospital Emergency Medical Services were used. SES was based on income, education and adherence to workforce. Poisson regression was used to measure relative risk (RR).Results: We included 388,378 medical 1-1-2 calls, of which 261,771 were unique individuals; 42% of the calls concerned patients with low education, 5% concerned patients living in relative poverty and 23% concerned patients receiving social subsidy. There were no significant dif

Background: Differences related to socioeconomic status (SES) in use of prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) have been reported. However, detailed data on potential disparities in the quality of the EMS according to SES are lacking. Methods: A nationwide cohort study of medical emergency calls made to the Danish emergency number 1-1-2 in the period 2016–2017. To measure quality of care, performance indicators from the Danish Quality Registry for Prehospital Emergency Medical Services were used. SES was based on income, education and adherence to workforce. Poisson regression was used to measure relative risk (RR). Results: We included 388,378 medical 1-1-2 calls, of which 261,771 were unique individuals; 42% of the calls concerned patients with low education, 5% concerned patients living in relative poverty and 23% concerned patients receiving social subsidy. There were no significant differences between the SES regarding time span for arrival of first EMS units. However, patients receiving social subsidy and retired people were more likely to be released at scene and to call again within 24 hours: Adjusted RRs were 2.79 [2.20; 3.54] and 2.08 [1.58; 2.75], respectively, compared with patients having a job. In addition, patients receiving social subsidy and retired people were more likely to call again within 24 hours after receiving telephone advice only: Adjusted RRs 2.35 [1.95; 2.82] and 1.88 [1.51; 2.35], respectively compared with patients having a job. Adjusted RRs for unplanned hospital contact after being treated and released at scene were higher for patients receiving social subsidy and retired people, respectively, relative to patients having a job. Conclusion: Patients with low SES were significantly more likely to contact the hospital or EMS again after their first call or after treatment and release at scene compared with patients with high SES. This indicates that callers with low SES did not receive the appropriate help.

Aim: Use of tele-health programs and wearable sensors that allow patients to monitor their own vital signs have been expanded in response to COVID19. We aimed to explore the utility of patient-held data during presentation as medical emergencies. Methods: We undertook a systematic scoping review of two groups of studies: studies using non-invasive vital sign monitoring in patients with chronic diseases aimed at preventing unscheduled reviews in primary care, hospitalization or emergency department visits and studies using vital sign measurements from wearable sensors for decision making by clinicians on presentation of these patients as emergencies. Only studies that described a comparator or control group were included. Studies limited to inpatient use of devices were excluded. Results: The initial search resulted in 896 references for screening, nine more studies were identified through searches ofreferences. 26 studies fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria and were further analyzed.The majority of studies were from telehealth programs of patients with congestive heart failure or Chronic ObstructivePulmonary Disease. There was limited evidence that patient held data is currently used to risk-stratify the admission or discharge process for medical emergencies. Studies that showed impact on mortality or hospital admission rates measured vital signs at least daily. We identified no interventional study using commercially available sensors in watches or smart phones.

BACKGROUND: Telephone triage is used to assess acute illness or injury. Clinical decision making is often assisted by triage tools that lack callers' perspectives. This study analysed callers' perception of urgency, defined as degree of worry in acute care telephone calls.AIM: To explore the caller's ability to quantify their degree of worry, the association between degree of worry and variables related to the caller, the effect of degree of worry on triage outcome, and the thematic content of the caller's worry.DESIGN AND SETTING: A mixed-methods study with simultaneous convergent design combining descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of 180 calls to a Danish out-of-hours service.METHOD: The following quantitative data were measured: age of caller, sex, reason for encounter, symptom duration, triage outcome, and degree of worry (rated from 1 = minimally worried to 5 = extremely worried). Qualitative data consisted of audio-recorded telephone calls.RESULTS: Most callers (170 out of 180) were able to scale their worry when contacting the out-of-hours service (median = 3, interquartile range = 2-4, mean = 2.76). Degree of worry was associated with female sex (odds ratio [OR] 1.98, 95% CI = 1.13 to 3.45) and symptom duration (>24 hours: OR 2.01, 95% CI = 1.13 to 3.45) (reference <5 hours), but not with age or reason for encounter. A high degree of worry significantly increased the chance of being triaged to a face-to-face consultation. The thematic content of worry varied from emotions of feeling bothered to feeling distressed. Callers provided more contextual information when asked about their degree of worry.CONCLUSION: Callers were able to rate their degree of worry. The degree of worry scale is feasible for larger-scale studies if incorporating a patient-centred approach in out-of-hours telephone triage.