The LAC SSS has been in existence since 2004. Currently, the system collects data from over 50 hospitals daily and performs a chief complaint-based syndrome classification analysis of all ED visits. The keyword “fever” is of special interest due to its inclusion within several syndrome category definitions such as influenza, meningitis, etc. However, inclusion of such terms in syndrome definitions may be a disadvantage as such keyword searches would depend upon the consistency in which the term “fever” is reported. In 2014, several LAC syndromic surveillance hospital data connections were upgraded to include notes recording patient body temperature. To evaluate the newly added temperature information, analyses were conducted on those observations that included body temperature, chief complaint, and diagnosis information.
Objective
The Los Angeles County (LAC) Emergency Department (ED) Syndromic Surveillance System (SSS) classifies patients into syndrome categories based on stated chief complaints. In an effort to evaluate the accuracy of patient- stated chief complaints and final diagnoses, both “fever” chief complaints and diagnoses were compared with patient body temperature readings.