The Copenhagen Triage Algorithm (CTA)

Crowding in the emergency department (ED) is a well documented problem putting patients at risk of adverse outcomes. To combat this, most ED's use some form of triage. In the last two decades systematic triage or process triage has become the norm in most countries but this approach is supported by limited evidence. Our aim is to develop a faster triage model of only a few vital parameters, based on a data from a large cohort of unselected ED patients and evaluate if such a model combined with a clinical assessment by the ED nurse is inferior to existing triage models in a prospective cluster-randomized trial

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Triage
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Copenhagen Triage Algorithm

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 50000
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Denmark
  • Region Hovedstaden
    • Herlev, Region Hovedstaden, Denmark, 2730
      • Herlev Hospital
    • København NV, Region Hovedstaden, Denmark, 2400
      • Bispebjerg Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients presenting acutely to the Acute ward/Emergency department in two hospitals in the Capital of Denmark

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients presenting in Pediatric, Gynecological or Obstetric units

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Conventional Triage; Conventional triage using Danish Emergency Process Triage (DEPT).
Experimental: Copenhagen Triage Algorithm; The Copenhagen Triage Algorithm is used as triage form in the ED. The Copenhagen Triage Algorithm consists of a few vital parameters and a clinical assessment from the ED nurse.	Behavioral: Copenhagen Triage Algorithm; The Copenhagen Triage Algorithm is a new triage method for faster triage in the ED

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
All cause mortality	Time frame starts at the beginning of the index admission, defined as first admission in the study period. Patients will be followed using central registers.	30 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
All cause mortality		90 days
Number of patients with an admission to the intensive care unit		30 days
Length of stay during admission		30 days
Waiting time for treatment	Waiting time from first presenting at ED to first treatment startet	8 hours
Number of readmissions	Patients will be followed using central registers. All new admissions within 91 days of the same patient is defined as readmissions.	30 and 90 days
All cause mortality		48 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Herlev Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kasper Iversen, MD, DMSci, kasper.karmark.iversen@regionh.dk

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Hasselbalch RB, Pries-Heje M, Schultz M, Plesner LL, Ravn L, Lind M, Greibe R, Jensen BN, Hoi-Hansen T, Carlson N, Torp-Pedersen C, Rasmussen LS, Iversen K. The Copenhagen Triage Algorithm is non-inferior to a traditional triage algorithm: A cluster-randomized study. PLoS One. 2019 Feb 4;14(2):e0211769. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211769. eCollection 2019.
• Hasselbalch RB, Plesner LL, Pries-Heje M, Ravn L, Lind M, Greibe R, Jensen BN, Rasmussen LS, Iversen K. The Copenhagen Triage Algorithm: a randomized controlled trial. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2016 Oct 10;24(1):123. doi: 10.1186/s13049-016-0312-6.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: April 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 24, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 28, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): March 3, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 16, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 15, 2016
• Last Verified: August 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Triage; Systematic Triage
• Other Study ID Numbers: HerlevH02