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Table 1 Characteristics of the overall study population (n = 187)

From: Management of respiratory distress following prehospital implementation of noninvasive ventilation in a physician-staffed emergency medical service: a single-center retrospective study

 

Total

(n = 187)

NIV started

(n = 56; 30%)

NIV not started

(n = 131; 70%)

p Value

Characteristic

Age (year), mean ± SD

77 ± 14

77 ± 12

76 ± 15

0.96

Male, n (%)

96 (51)

28 (50)

68 (52)

0.8

NACA, n (%)

   

<0.0005

 

2

2 (1.1)

0 (0)

2 (1.5)

 
 

3

40 (21)

0 (0)

40 (31)

 
 

4

69 (37)

17 (30)

52 (40)

 
 

5

71 (38)

38 (68)

33 (25)

 
 

6

4 (2.1)

1 (1.8)

3 (2.3)

 
 

7

1 (0.5)

0 (0)

1 (0.8)

 

Time interval (minutes), median (IQR)

Time to start

2.7 (1.9–3.7)

2.9 (2.0–4.0)

2.7 (1.8–3.6)

0.32

Time to scene

5.9 (4.1–8.1)

5.3 (3.5–7.2)

6.0 (4.4–8.2)

0.07

On-scene time

21 (16–26)

22 (18–27)

20 (15–25)

0.08

Transport

10.4 (3.1–16.8)

7.6 (4.4–11.0)

12.7 (7.1–20.1)

<0.0001

Presumptive diagnosis, n (%)

 

APEa

57 (30)

30 (55)

27 (21)

<0.0001

 

COPDa exacerbation

48 (26)

20 (36)

28 (21)

0.04

 

Pneumonia

53 (28)

15 (27)

38 (29)

0.76

 

ARDS

1 (0.5)

1 (1.8)

0 (0)

0.13

 

Asthma

12 (6.4)

0 (0)

12 (9.2)

0.02

Initial vital parameters

RR (breath/min), mean ± SD

30 ± 10

35 ± 8

29 ± 10

<0.0001

Sp02 (%), mean ± SD

85 ± 11

79 ± 10

88 ± 11

<0.0001

HR (beat/min), mean ± SD

105 ± 27

115 ± 21

100 ± 28

<0.0005

SBP (mmHg), mean ± SD

146 ± 34

154 ± 38

143 ± 32

0.09

DBP (mmHg), mean ± SD

82 ± 23

86 ± 25

80 ± 22

0.20

GCS, median (IQR)

15 (15–15)

15 (14–15)

15 (15–15)

0.69

GCS, n (%)

   

0.9

 

3–8

13 (7)

4 (7.1)

9 (6.9)

 
 

9–12

16 (8.6)

4 (7.1)

12 (9.2)

 
 

13–15

158 (84)

48 (86)

110 (84)

 

Final vital parametersb

RR (breath/min), mean ± SD

27 ± 8

29 ± 8

26 ± 9

0.0421

SpO2 (%), mean ± SD

95 ± 5

96 ± 5

95 ± 5

0.0641

HR (beat/min), mean ± SD

101 ± 24

103 ± 28

100 ± 22

0.1081

SBP (mmHg), mean ± SD

135 ± 29

138 ± 30

134 ± 28

0.6171

DBP (mmHg), mean ± SD

77 ± 17

79 ± 17

76 ± 17

0.8025

GCS score, median (IQR)

15 (15–15)

15 (15–15)

15 (15–15)

0.5958

GCS, n (%)

   

0.85

 

3–8

13 (7)

3 (5.4)

10 (7.6)

 
 

9–12

13 (7)

4 (7.1)

9 (6.9)

 
 

13–15

161 (86)

49 (88)

112 (86)

 

Treatment, n (%)

Oxygen

141 (75)

45 (80)

96 (73)

0.30

Intubation

5 (2.7)

1 (1.8)

4 (3.1)

0.53

Drugs

    
 

Salbutamol

65 (35)

20 (36)

45 (34)

0.87

 

Isosorbide dinitrate

34 (18)

16 (29)

18 (24)

0.022

 

Furosemide

28 (15)

14 (25)

14 (11)

0.023

 

Morphine sulphate

12 (6.4)

6 (11)

6 (4.6)

0.19

 

Ipratropium bromide

6 (3.2)

5 (8.9)

1 (0.8)

0.010

 

Methylprednisolone

1 (0.5)

0 (0)

1 (0.8)

–

Outcome, n (%)

Final diagnosisc

    
 

APE

45 (24)

20 (21)

25 (18)

0.015

 

COPD exacerbation

36 (19)

12 (33)

24 (67)

0.62

 

Pneumonia

59 (32)

22 (39)

37 (28)

0.14

 

ARDS

0

0

0

–

 

Asthma

6 (3.2)

0

6 (4.6)

0.10

48-hour mortality

13 (7)

6 (11)

7 (5.3)

0.186

  1. aOverlapping presumptive diagnosis of COPD-APE for 10 patients (including 7 in the NIV group)
  2. bThere was a statistically significant (p < 0.05 for all) decrease in RR, SBP, DBP, and HR, as well as an increase in SpO2 in both NIV and non-NIV groups. There was no statistically significant difference for GCS
  3. cOverlapping presumptive diagnosis of COPD-APE for 3 patients (including one in the NIV group)