Is Self-triage by Patients Using a Symptom-checker Safe?

in4medicine

Status: Completed

Conditions: Triage

Treatments: Device: SMASS-Triage

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Industry; Other

Identifiers

NCT04055298

SMASS-Triage_001

Details and patient eligibility

About

This is a prospective, non-randomized, no placebo-controlled interventional study.

The study aims to assess the safety of the web-based symptom checker SMASS-Triage and its tolerability in terms of incidence of under-triaged self-assessments and the potential risk to be life-threatening or harmful.

The patient's self-triage using a symptom checker will be compared with the urgency assessments conducted sequentially by three interdisciplinary panels of physicians (panel A, B and C). The risk assessments will be based on the structured reports generated by the symptom checker and the discharge summaries of the WIC/ED.

Enrollment: 2,500 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• All German-, French-, Italian-, English-speaking patients attending the WIC/ED are eligible.
• Informed Consent as documented by signature ( Informed Consent Form)
• Age 18-years and older
• Capable of judgment
• Not under tutelage

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with an Emergency Severity Index 1
• Leading complaint of the patient can't be found and assessed with the symptom checker
• Patients not being able to use a tablet-computer
• Patients not speaking German, French, Italian or English
• Minors under the age of 7-years
• Patients incapable of judgment
• Participants under tutelage
• Known or suspected non-compliance, drug or alcohol abuse,
• Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, dementia, etc. of the participant

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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2,500 participants in 1 patient group

Patients

Other group

Description:

The study will be performed at the Walk-in-Clinic (WIC) and Interdisciplinary Emergency Department (ED) of the cantonal hospital of Baden, Switzerland. During their stay at the WIC or ED the patients will be invited to use the triage-symptom-checker SMASS-Triage. In this study, the patient's self-triage using a symptom checker will be compared with the urgency assessments conducted by three interdisciplinary panels of physicians (panel A, B and C). In order to appropriately reflect the complex interaction in medical decision-making, which usually leads to a low inter-rater reliability, the cases assessed to be undertriaged by panel A, are subsequently assessed a second time by two panelist of panel B. Cases which are adjudged to be undertriaged by all panelist (panel A and B), are assessed for a risk to health or life by panel C. The risk assessments of panel C will be based on the structured reports generated by the symptom-checker and the discharge summaries of the WIC/ED.

Treatment:

Device: SMASS-Triage