Variation in the use of 12-lead electrocardiography for patients with chest pain by emergency medical services in North Carolina.
BACKGROUND
Prehospital 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) is critical to timely STEMI care although its use remains inconsistent. Previous studies to identify reasons for failure to obtain a prehospital ECG have generally only focused on individual emergency medical service (EMS) systems in urban areas. Our study objective was to identify patient, geographic, and EMS agency-related factors associated with failure to perform a prehospital ECG across a statewide geography.


RESULTS
We analyzed data from the Prehospital Medical Information System (PreMIS) in North Carolina from January 2008 to November 2010 for patients >30 years of age who used EMS and had a prehospital chief complaint of chest pain. Among 3.1 million EMS encounters, 134 350 patients met study criteria. From 2008-2010, 82 311 (61%) persons with chest pain received a prehospital ECG; utilization increased from 55% in 2008 to 65% in 2010 (trend P<0.001). Utilization by health referral region ranged from 22.9% to 74.2% and was lowest in rural areas. Men were more likely than women to have an ECG performed (63.0% vs 61.3%, adjusted RR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.04). The certification-level of the EMS provider (paramedic vsbasic/intermediate) and system-level ECG equipment availability were the strongest predictors of ECG utilization. Persons in an ambulance with a certified paramedic were significantly more likely to receive a prehospital ECG than nonparamedics (RR 2.15, 95% CI 1.55, 2.99).


CONCLUSIONS
Across a large geographic area prehospital ECG use increased significantly, although important quality improvement opportunities remain. Increasing ECG availability and improving EMS certification and training levels are needed to improve overall care and reduce rural-urban treatment differences.
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina.
Montika
M
Bush
Lawrence T
LT
Glickman
Antonio R
AR
Fernandez
J L
JL
Garvey
Seth W
SW
Glickman
D000328:Adult; D000552:Ambulances; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D002568:Certification; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians / Q000193:education; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006302:Health Services Research; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009657:North Carolina; D016017:Odds Ratio; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors
emergency medical services; health policy and outcomes research