Effect of the implementation of cardiac triage scale on the time indices of patients with chest pain

Background: Chest patient is the most common symptom in coronary artery disease, but its diagnosis is a complex issue and high mortality is attributed to this symptom. Therefore, the timely diagnosis and treatment is essential. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of implementation of cardiac triage scale on time indices in patients with chest pain.

Methods: In this clinical trial study with control group, study population was the patients referred to emergency ward of Farabi hospital in Mashhad in 2014. 60 patients were selected purposefully and then were randomly allocated into intervention and control group. The patients in intervention group were triaged through using cardiac triage scale by researcher and in control group through emergency severity index and by nurse. Data analysis was done through using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Mann Whitney in SPSS 21.

Results: The beginning of 6-hours hospitalization (p < 0.001), the time of the first visit by specialist (p < 0.001) and the time of the first electrocardiogram (p < 0.001) in intervention group was shorter than the control group.

Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the special triage of cardiac patients can decrease the time of assessment and caring of them. Thus, the using of this method is recommended for early care of cardiac patients.