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A Semantic-Based Model for Triage Patients in Emergency Departments

  • Mobile & Wireless Health
  • Published:
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Abstract

Triage is a process performed in an emergency department that aims to sort patients according to their need for care. When performed speedily and correctly, this process can potentially increase the chances of survival for a patient with serious complications. This study aims to develop a computer model, called UbiTriagem, which supports the process of triage using the concepts of web semantics and ubiquitous computing focused on healthcare. For evaluating the proposal, we performed an analysis of scenario-driven triage based on previously determined ratings. In addition, we conducted a usability evaluation in emergency department with the developed prototype with two user groups: nurses and patients. The main scientific contribution is the automatic triage assessment based on the gathering of patient data on mobile devices, performed automatically through the use of a reasoning technique in an ontology. The results for all evaluations were very positive. The automatic triage assessment has been assertive in 93.3% of the cases and, after adjustments in the model, in 100% of the cases. Regarding user satisfaction, we obtained rates of 98.7% and 96% when considering perception of utility and ease of use, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank to the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ) for supporting the development of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS, Brazil

    Guilherme Wunsch, Cristiano A. da Costa & Rodrigo R. Righi

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  1. Guilherme Wunsch
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  2. Cristiano A. da Costa
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  3. Rodrigo R. Righi
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Correspondence to Cristiano A. da Costa.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Mobile & Wireless Health

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Wunsch, G., da Costa, C.A. & Righi, R.R. A Semantic-Based Model for Triage Patients in Emergency Departments. J Med Syst 41, 65 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-017-0710-y

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