Counts, Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Transported by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Metropolitan Perth With Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome: Western Australian Linked Data Study
Julian Ming, Helen Bartholomew, David Preen, John Fisher, Tom Briffa, Andrew Hooper, James M. Rankin, Abdul Rahman Ihdayhid, Derrick Lopez
{"title":"Counts, Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Transported by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Metropolitan Perth With Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome: Western Australian Linked Data Study","authors":"Julian Ming, Helen Bartholomew, David Preen, John Fisher, Tom Briffa, Andrew Hooper, James M. Rankin, Abdul Rahman Ihdayhid, Derrick Lopez","doi":"10.1111/ajr.70093","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Objectives</h3>\n \n <p>Determine counts, characteristics and outcomes following transport by the Royal Flying Doctor Service Western Operations (RFDSWO) to Perth.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Study Design</h3>\n \n <p>Retrospective cohort study of the RFDSWO aeromedical patient dataset linked to administrative datasets.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Participants</h3>\n \n <p>Suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients aged ≥ 25 years transported from rural Western Australia to Perth between 2001 and 2017.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Main Outcome Measures</h3>\n \n <p>Basic counts and proportions. Poisson regression was used to determine absolute change in number of transports and relative risk (RR) of receiving diagnostic coronary angiography; logistic regression to model odds ratio (OR) of death between transport and end of hospital care.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Results</h3>\n \n <p>RFDSWO carried out 11 390 transports for suspected ACS between 2001 and 2017, with the absolute number of annual transports increasing by 6.0%. After excluding 164 transports without linked records, the remaining 11 226 consisted of patients with a mean age of 60.3 years and 70.8% male. Most (99.1%) were hospitalised and 1.8% died. Among those hospitalised, 84.5% received diagnostic coronary angiography and 74.5% were discharged with a diagnosis of ACS. Females (RR = 0.97; CI = 0.95–0.99), higher comorbidity scores, and those from the Pilbara/Midwest/Wheatbelt regions (compared to South West) were less likely to receive diagnostic coronary angiography. Older patients (OR = 1.07; CI = 1.06–1.11), earlier transport years, higher comorbidity scores, those with priority 1 transport or requiring medical escort, and those from the Kimberley (compared to South West) were more likely to die.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusions</h3>\n \n <p>Findings suggest a high suspicion of coronary artery pathology among transported patients. Patient-level and regional differences in outcomes warrant further investigation with more granular data.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":55421,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Rural Health","volume":"33 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12455902/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Australian Journal of Rural Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajr.70093","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives
Determine counts, characteristics and outcomes following transport by the Royal Flying Doctor Service Western Operations (RFDSWO) to Perth.
Study Design
Retrospective cohort study of the RFDSWO aeromedical patient dataset linked to administrative datasets.
Participants
Suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients aged ≥ 25 years transported from rural Western Australia to Perth between 2001 and 2017.
Main Outcome Measures
Basic counts and proportions. Poisson regression was used to determine absolute change in number of transports and relative risk (RR) of receiving diagnostic coronary angiography; logistic regression to model odds ratio (OR) of death between transport and end of hospital care.
Results
RFDSWO carried out 11 390 transports for suspected ACS between 2001 and 2017, with the absolute number of annual transports increasing by 6.0%. After excluding 164 transports without linked records, the remaining 11 226 consisted of patients with a mean age of 60.3 years and 70.8% male. Most (99.1%) were hospitalised and 1.8% died. Among those hospitalised, 84.5% received diagnostic coronary angiography and 74.5% were discharged with a diagnosis of ACS. Females (RR = 0.97; CI = 0.95–0.99), higher comorbidity scores, and those from the Pilbara/Midwest/Wheatbelt regions (compared to South West) were less likely to receive diagnostic coronary angiography. Older patients (OR = 1.07; CI = 1.06–1.11), earlier transport years, higher comorbidity scores, those with priority 1 transport or requiring medical escort, and those from the Kimberley (compared to South West) were more likely to die.
Conclusions
Findings suggest a high suspicion of coronary artery pathology among transported patients. Patient-level and regional differences in outcomes warrant further investigation with more granular data.
期刊介绍:
The Australian Journal of Rural Health publishes articles in the field of rural health. It facilitates the formation of interdisciplinary networks, so that rural health professionals can form a cohesive group and work together for the advancement of rural practice, in all health disciplines. The Journal aims to establish a national and international reputation for the quality of its scholarly discourse and its value to rural health professionals. All articles, unless otherwise identified, are peer reviewed by at least two researchers expert in the field of the submitted paper.