Manchester Triage System-Based Digital Decision Support System and Nurse Triage Accuracy (MTS-DSS)

September 18, 2026 updated by: Zalihe Sarı Amca, Kibrıs Aydin Üniversitesi

Effect of a Manchester Triage System-Based Digital Decision Support System on Nurse Triage Accuracy and Triage Concordance

This study aims to evaluate the effect of a Manchester Triage System-based digital decision support system on emergency nurses' triage accuracy and agreement. Triage is the process of assessing patients when they arrive at the emergency department and determining how urgently they need care. In this study, emergency nurses will first perform routine triage without using the digital system. They will then receive training on the Manchester Triage System and the use of the digital decision support system. In the following phase, nurses will perform triage using their usual clinical assessment and the digital system. The study will compare nurses' triage decisions before and after the intervention and examine the agreement between nurses' decisions and the digital system. The study will be conducted in the adult emergency department of Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital in Nicosia, Northern Cyprus. The findings may help determine whether a digital decision support system can improve the consistency and accuracy of emergency triage decisions.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study will evaluate the effect of a Manchester Triage System (MTS)-based digital decision support system (MTS-DSS) on emergency nurses' triage accuracy and triage concordance. The study will use a single-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design and will be conducted in the adult emergency department of Dr. Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital, Nicosia, Northern Cyprus.

Emergency nurses participating in the study will first perform routine triage according to their usual clinical practice during the pretest phase. Patient-related triage information, including presenting complaint and relevant clinical findings, will be recorded by the researcher. The nurses will subsequently receive structured training on the Manchester Triage System and the use of the digital decision support system.

Following the training period, nurses will perform triage during the posttest phase. The nurse will initially make a triage decision based on clinical assessment and will then enter the relevant patient information into the MTS-DSS. The system will provide a triage category based on the MTS algorithms. The nurse may retain or change the initial triage decision after viewing the system output.

The primary evaluations will compare triage accuracy before and after the intervention and assess the concordance between nurses' triage decisions and the MTS-DSS output. Nurse-related characteristics and relevant patient characteristics will also be recorded to describe the study population and examine factors associated with triage decisions.

The digital decision support system is web-based and will be accessed through password-protected accounts. The system will not be integrated with the hospital information system. Patient information will be recorded using study-specific codes rather than directly identifying information. Participation of nurses will be voluntary.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

16

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Zalihe Sarı Amca, Specialist Nurse
  • Phone Number: +90 +905338619561
  • Email: zalihesari@gmail.com

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

22 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria for Nurses Being a nurse actively working in the triage area of the emergency department. Voluntarily agreeing to participate in the study. Agreeing to participate in the training program. Inclusion Criteria for Patients Patients aged 18 years and older. Exclusion Criteria for Nurses Being on leave or sick leave during the data collection period. Not participating in the training program. Providing incomplete data. Exclusion Criteria for Patients Patients under 18 years of age.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: MTS-DSS Intervention Group

Emergency nurses will receive structured education on the Manchester Triage System (MTS) and training on the use of the MTS-based digital decision support system. During the posttest phase, nurses will first perform triage based on their clinical assessment and then enter the relevant patient information into the digital decision support system. The system will provide an MTS triage category based on the relevant MTS algorithms. Nurses will be able to retain or change their initial triage decision after reviewing the system output. Triage accuracy and concordance will be assessed before and after the intervention.

The intervention consists of structured Manchester Triage System (MTS) education followed by the use of a web-based MTS-based digital decision support system. Emergency nurses will receive training on the principles, triage categories, algorithms, and discriminators of the MTS, as well as on the use of the digital system. During the posttest phase, nurses will first perform triage based on their clinical assessment and then enter the relevant patient information into the digital decision support system. The system will generate an MTS triage category based on the applicable MTS algorithm. The intervention is designed to support nurses' triage decision-making and improve triage accuracy and concordance.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Triage Accuracy of Emergency Nurses
Time Frame: Participants will be evaluated in 3 stages: Stage 1, 4-week pre-intervention assessment; Stage 2, 17-day MTS training and clinical adaptation; Stage 3, 4-week post-intervention assessment.

The accuracy of emergency nurses' triage decisions will be assessed by comparing the nurses' assigned triage categories with the reference triage category determined according to the Manchester Triage System (MTS). Triage accuracy will be evaluated during the pretest and posttest phases to determine whether the MTS-based digital decision support system improves nurses' triage accuracy.

Participants will be evaluated in 3 stages: Stage 1, 4-week pre-intervention assessment; Stage 2, 17-day MTS training and clinical adaptation; Stage 3, 4-week post-intervention assessment.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Funda Karaman, Assoc Prof, Kıbrıs Aydın University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

November 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 28, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 9, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 18, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 18, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MTS-DSS-2026-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant-level data will not be shared with other researchers because the data are collected for the specific purposes of this study and will be stored securely in coded form. Data sharing is not planned beyond the research team.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.