Dataset Information

Should I stay or should I go? An exploration of the decision-making behavior of acute cardiac patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

During the SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic efforts to reduce virus transmission resulted in non-emergency patients being deterred from seeking help. The number of patients presenting with acute cardiac conditions reduced, significantly OBJECTIVES: To explore the decision-making process, and influential factors in that process, of patients and their family during an acute cardiac event.

Methods

A qualitative research design was employed using purposive sampling of patients who experienced an acute cardiac event during the social containment mandates. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, with thematic analysis of interview transcripts.

Results

Twenty-five participants were recruited from three UK hospitals. Themes identified were reliance on informal support network, lack of awareness of cardiac symptoms leading to delayed help-seeking, and an indirect COVID-19 effect (e.g. avoiding treatment).

Conclusions

These results highlight the need for informed public health messages, targeting patients and their support networks, that allow those in need of treatment to access care.

SUBMITTER: Burton S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8606948 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Should I stay or should I go? An exploration of the decision-making behavior of acute cardiac patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Burton S S Hayes J A JA Morrell-Scott N N Sanders J J Walthall H H Wright D J DJ Jones I D ID

Heart & lung : the journal of critical care 20211116

<h4>Background</h4>During the SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic efforts to reduce virus transmission resulted in non-emergency patients being deterred from seeking help. The number of patients presenting with acute cardiac conditions reduced, significantly OBJECTIVES: To explore the decision-making process, and influential factors in that process, of patients and their family during an acute cardiac event.<h4>Methods</h4>A qualitative research design was employed using purposive sampling of patient ...[more]

PMID: 34823051

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundInter-hospital patient transfers to hospitals with greater resource availability and expertise may improve clinical outcomes. However, there is little guidance regarding how patient transfer requests should be prioritized when hospital resources become scarce.ObjectiveTo understand the experiences of healthcare workers involved in the process of accepting inter-hospital patient transfers during a pandemic surge and determine factors impacting inter-hospital patient transfer decision-making.DesignWe conducted a qualitative study consisting of semi-structured interviews between October 2021 and February 2022.ParticipantsEligible participants were physicians, nurses, and non-clinician administrators involved in the process of accepting inter-hospital patient transfers. Participants were recruited using maximum variation sampling.ApproachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare workers across Michigan.Key resultsTwenty-one participants from 15 hospitals were interviewed (45.5% of eligible hospitals). About half (52.4%) of participants were physicians, 38.1% were nurses, and 9.5% were non-clinician administrators. Three domains of themes impacting patient transfer decision-making emerged: decision-maker, patient, and environmental factors. Decision-makers described a lack of guidance for transfer decision-making. Patient factors included severity of illness, predicted chance of survival, need for specialized care, and patient preferences for medical care. Decision-making occurred within the context of environmental factors including scarce resources at accepting and requesting hospitals, organizational changes to transfer processes, and alternatives to patient transfer including use of virtual care. Participants described substantial moral distress related to transfer triaging.ConclusionsA lack of guidance in transfer processes may result in considerable variation in the patients who are accepted for inter-hospital transfer and in substantial moral distress among decision-makers involved in the transfer process. Our findings identify potential organizational changes to improve the inter-hospital transfer process and alleviate the moral distress experienced by decision-makers.

Dataset Information

Should I stay or should I go? An exploration of the decision-making behavior of acute cardiac patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Should I stay or should I go? An exploration of the decision-making behavior of acute cardiac patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets