The Article in Brief
A Nationwide Flash-Mob Study for Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome
Jochen W.L. Cals , and colleagues
Background The dual aim of this study was to evaluate the Marburg Heart Score, a clinical decision rule, and/or develop an adapted clinical decision rule for family practitioners to safely rule out acute coronary syndrome in patients referred to secondary care for suspected ACS; and also to evaluate the feasibility of using a "flash mob" method, an innovative new study design, for large scale research in family medicine.
What This Study Found This study finds that, in emergency care, acute coronary syndrome cannot be safely ruled out using the Marburg Heart Score or the family physicians' clinical assessment. In a period of only 2 weeks, researchers at Maastricht University collected data on 258 ACS-suspected patients by mobilizing 1 in 5 family physicians throughout the Netherlands to participate in the study. This mobilization was done by enlisting ambassadors among the FP community in the Netherlands who then spread the word through traditional professional and social networks. The study found that among 243 patients receiving a final diagnosis, 45 (18.5%) were diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome. Sensitivity for the FP rating was 86.7% and sensitivity for the MHS was 94.4%.
Implications
- While large, prospective studies can be time consuming and costly, this innovative flash mob method of research, named after the large-scale public collaborations/gatherings driven by social media, allowed for the fast investigation of one simple question on a large scale in a short timeframe.