Critically deviating vital signs among patients with non-specific diagnoses–A register-based historic cohort study

by Mia Carøe Sørensen, Morten Breinholt Søvsø, Erika Frischknecht Christensen, Tim Alex Lindskou

One third of ambulance patients receive non-specific diagnoses in hospital. Mortality is 3–4%, however due to the high patient volume this group accounts for 20% of all deaths at day 30. Non-specific diagnoses do not provide much information on causes for death. Vital signs at first contact with ambulance personnel can act as a proxy for the patient’s condition. Thus, we aimed to describe the prevalence of abnormal vital signs, as determined by a modified NEWS2, in ambulance patients who received a non-specific hospital diagnosis. Secondly, we examined the association between vital signs, NEWS2 scores, type of non-specific diagnosis, and mortality among these patients.

Register-based historic cohort study of ambulance patients aged 16+ in the North Denmark Region during 2012–2016, who received a non-specific diagnosis (ICD-10 chapters R or Z) at hospital. We used NEWS2 scores to determine if first vital signs were normal or deviating (including critical). Mortality was estimated with the Kaplan-Meier estimator. Association between vital signs and mortality was evaluated by logistic regression.

We included 41,539 patients, 20.9% (N = 8,691) had normal vital signs, 16.3% (N = 6,766) had incomplete vital sign registration, 62.8% (N = 26,082) had deviating vital signs, and of these 6.8% (N = 1,779) were critical. If vital signs were incompletely registered or deviating, mortality was higher compared to normal vital signs. Patients with critical vital signs displayed the highest crude 48-hour and 30-day mortality (7.0% (5.9–8.3) and 13.4% (11.9–15.1)). Adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidity did not change that pattern. Across all vital sign groups, despite severity, the most frequent diagnosis assigned was Z039 observation for suspected disease or condition unspecified.

Most ambulance patients with non-specific diagnoses had normal or non-critical deviating vital signs and low mortality. Around 4% had critical vital signs and high mortality, not explained by age or comorbidity.