Thomas F Heston MD

August 9, 2023

Do Emergency Physicians Follow the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Policy Regarding the Evaluation of Nontraumatic Chest Pain in the ED?

Lewis, Lawrence M. and Heston, Thomas F. and Mecker, R and Lasater L and Rush C.

Abstract. This study looked at 718 patients evaluated by 97 physicians in 10 regional hospitals. The correctness of the ED diagnosis was correlated to the cumulative score for adherence to ACEP rules (p = 0.0003).

Keywords: ACEP, acute chest pain, diagnosis, guidelines

This research study found that physicians adhering to ACEP guidelines made better diagnostic decisions than those who did not. However, note that further analysis of this database found a significant gender bias in the evaluation of men and women presenting with acute, nontraumatic chest pain (1).

Citation: Lewis LM, Heston TF, Mecker R, Lasater L, Rush C. Do Emergency Physicians Follow the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Policy Regarding the Evaluation of Nontraumatic Chest Pain in the ED? South Med J 1991;84(9):2S-23. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8231103.

Reference

  1. Heston TF, Lewis LM. Gender bias in evaluating and managing acute nontraumatic chest pain. The St. Louis Emergency Physicians’ Association Research Group. Fam Pract Res J. 1992 Dec;12(4):383-9. PMID: 1481708.