How physicians evaluate patients with dementia who present with shortness of breath.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Whether the presence of dementia in patients makes it difficult for physicians to assess the risk such patients might have for serious conditions such as pulmonary embolism (PE) is unknown. Our objective was to examine the differential association of four clinical factors (deep venous thrombosis (DVT)/PE, malignancy, recent surgery, and tachycardia) with PE testing for patients with dementia compared to patients without dementia.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional study of emergency department (ED) visits to 104 Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals from 2011 to 2018 by patients aged 60 years and over presenting with shortness of breath (SOB). Our outcomes were PE testing (CT scan and/or D-dimer) and subsequently diagnosed acute PE.

Results

The sample include

SUBMITTER: Ly DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8742745 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature