Impact on Management of the HEART Risk Score in Chest Pain Patients

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Aim of this study is to quantify the impact of the use of the HEART risk score on patient outcome and on costs in patients with chest pain presenting at the emergency room, as compared to not using the score.

Detailed Description
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During 14 months, patients presenting with chest pain to the Emergency Department (ED) of participating hospitals will be included in the study. First, all hospitals will apply 'usual care' to all patients, i.e. risk assessment and subsequent management without application of the HEART score. Then, during a 14 month period, each 1,5 month 1 randomly allocated hospital will sequentially start to apply the HEART score in all chest pain patients (intervention period); during this intervention period patients with a HEART score 0-3 will not be admitted to the hospital (in accordance with the results of our validation studies), and patients with a HEART score above 3 will be treated according to current guidelines.

Official Title
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Cost-effectiveness Study of the HEART Score in the Management of Patients With Chest Pain Presenting in the Emergency Room

Conditions
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Chest Pain

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: usual care
* Other: use of HEART risk score


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: All patients presenting with chest pain to the (cardiac) ED of ten participating Dutch hospitals, older than 18 years. Exclusion Criteria: Children (age <18 years) are excluded from study participation. Subjects who are (for whatever reason) not able to fill in questionnaires are excluded from study participation. Legal incapacity of every patient will be assessed by the attending doctor, according to the guidelines of legal incapacity. In case of doubt, consultation of the cardiologist (primary local investigator) will be possible.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Interventional Model Description: this is a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial, meaning it is both parallel and cross-over. During 14 months, patients presenting with chest pain to the ED of participating hospitals will be included in the study. First, all hospitals will apply 'usual care' to all patients, i.e. risk assessment and subsequent management without application of the HEART score. Then, during a 14 month period, each 1,5 month 1 randomly allocated hospital will sequentially start to apply the HEART score in all chest pain patients (intervention period).
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Other: usual care<br>Daily practice of the cardiologist or attending emergency doctor, in order to diagnose a patient with chest pain. In this period attending doctors assess the risk of a patient with chest pain, based on his/hers experience and various criteria (for example described in European Society of Cardiology Guidelines for the management of acute coronary syndromes in patients presenting without persistent ST-segment elevation, without a formal risk score). | Other: usual care<br>* During 14 months, patients presenting with chest pain to the ED of participating hospitals will be included in the study. First, all hospitals will apply 'usual care' to all patients, i.e. risk assessment and subsequent management without application of the HEART score. Then, during a 14 month period, each 1,5 month 1 randomly allocated hospital will sequentially start to apply the HEART score in all chest pain patients (intervention period); during this intervention period patients with a HEART score 0-3 will not be admitted to the hospital, and patients with a HEART score above 3 will be treated according to current guidelines.<br>|
| Other: use of HEART risk score<br>see intervention | Other: use of HEART risk score<br>* During 14 months, patients presenting with chest pain to the ED of participating hospitals will be included in the study. First, all hospitals will apply 'usual care' to all patients, i.e. risk assessment and subsequent management without application of the HEART score. Then, during a 14 month period, each 1,5 month 1 randomly allocated hospital will sequentially start to apply the HEART score in all chest pain patients (intervention period); during this intervention period patients with a HEART score 0-3 will not be admitted to the hospital, and patients with a HEART score above 3 will be treated according to current guidelines.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| MACE (Major Adverse Cardiac Events) | occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE, i.e. acute myocardial infarction (AMI), Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) or death) within 6 weeks after presentation | 6 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cost-effectiveness (Costs, QoL, QALYs) | Information on quality of life (QoL) and costs was collected in 5 of the 9 hospitals. Costs for health care resource use were calculated based on Dutch guidelines and cost tables for hospitals. Different costs were used for academic and general hospitals, and costs were adjusted for inflation by using the consumer price indices provided by Statistics Netherlands. For each patient the costs were calculated based on the observed number and type of health care resources used and the type of hospital (academic/general). Data on resource use were collected for each patient in the 5 hospitals; no data were missing. QoL was derived from the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire, consisting of 5 questions (dimensions) with 3 answers each, from which QoL scores (utility values, 0-1, the higher the better) can be directly derived. Quality-adjusted life-years (scale 0-100, higher the better) were calculated over a period of 3 months, based on the estimated QoL values at 0 weeks, 2 weeks, and 3 months. | 3 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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HEART score, risk score, impact, chest pain