Citation

Heard K, Bebarta VS. Hum. Exp. Toxicol. 2004; 23(4): 197-200.

Affiliation

The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Division of Emergency Medicine, Denver, CO 80262, USA. Kennon.Heard@uchsc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15171571

Abstract

UNLABELLED: The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was developed for monitoring the mental status of head-injured patients in the intensive care unit. The purpose of this study is to determine the inter-rater reliability of the GCS for poisoning patients in the emergency department. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational study. Two observers used a standard assessment checklist to determine the GCS of suspected poisoning patients. Inter-rater reliability was assessed with a weighted Kappa score. RESULTS: A total of 39 patients were enrolled. Weighted kappa for the total GCS demonstrated excellent agreement. Agreement was also good for each component of the score. CONCLUSION: The GCS is a reliable tool for the evaluation of mental status of poisoning patients in the emergency department.

Language: en