Considering a requirement for an early assessment of asthma severity (around 2h after initial nursing triage), we concluded that there is an opportunity for a clinical DSS that would help physicians in evaluation of patients with asthma at the beginning of the management process. This functionality will be a component of newly developed MET3 Support multi-agent system.
In order to collect reliable data for developing the clinical model for predicting severity of asthma exacerbation we have designed a prospective study to take place at CHEO. The study started in late 2006 and will finish in summer 2007. It includes all ED patients who present with asthma exacerbations who agree to participate and who satisfy inclusion and exclusion criteria approved by the CHEO Ethics Board. So far, records for over 400 visits have been collected.
Study design asks for the collection of patient information at multiple assessment points during a patient’s visit to the ED by multiple healthcare personnel. The first round of patient data including clinical signs is collected during the triage assessment by a triage nurse. The second assessment is carried out by EP, who collects information on the patient’s medical history and reassesses clinical signs. The third assessment, similarly to the triage assessment, includes clinical signs and may be carried out by either a nurse or EP. This assessment is conducted at approximately the 2 hours after triage, depending on ED workload and patient’s condition.
Collected data will be analyzed using variety of data mining methodologies and resulting clinical DSS will be evaluated for its prospective performance