Differences between the dispatch priority assessments of emergency medical dispatchers and emergency medical services: a prospective register-based study in Finland

Table 4 Consistency between the priority assessments of the dispatcher and the EMS among the dispatch categories

Dispatch category (n)	Over-triage %	Under-triage %	Efficiency %	Sensitivity %	Specificity %	PPV%	NPV%
Body pain (59)	100	7	86	N.A	93	0	93
Assault (54)	100	0	93	N.A	93	0	100
Unspecific symptoms⁺ (75)	88	N.A	12	100	0	12	N.A
Headache (110)	85	3	63	78	61	15	97
Traffic accident, small (97)	83	2	53	90	48	17	98
General weakness (984)	81	2	87	59	88	19	98
Rhythm disorder (314)	81	1	78	89	77	19	99
Chest pain (631)	80	4	34	96	21	20	96
Impact/hit (76)	80	0	51	100	45	20	100
Allergic reaction (65)	80	0	45	100	36	20	100
Fall (882)	79	2	84	71	85	21	98
Back pain (183)	78	2	95	40	96	22	98
Limb pain (144)	78	1	94	67	95	22	99
Stroke (306)	74	4	39	97	23	26	96
Breathing difficulty (407)	72	4	65	84	61	29	96
Cut (67)	70	0	76	100	73	30	100
Abdominal pain (286)	68	2	90	69	92	32	98
Traffic accident, bicycle etc. (109)	68	0	73	100	68	32	100
Blood glucose problem (75)	68	5	79	67	80	32	95
Convulsion (137)	63	4	59	94	48	37	96
Unconscious⁺ (99)	58	N.A	42	100	0	42	N.A
Poisoning (224)	50	9	76	78	75	50	91
Nausea, diarrhoea, constipation (140)	33	2	97	40	99	67	98
Hospital transfer (253)	30	12	79	84	77	70	88
Cardiac arrest (51)	8	0	92	100	43	92	100
Psychiatric symptom⁺ (75)	N.A	6	94	0	100	N.A	94

Over-triage: 100-PPV; Under-triage: 100-NPV; Efficiency: ([TP + TN]/[TP + TN + FP + FN]) × 100; Sensitivity: (TP/[TP + FN]) × 100; Specificity: (TN/[TN + FP]) × 100; Positive predictive value (PPV): (TP/[TP + FP]) × 100;
Negative predictive value (NPV): (TN/(TN + FN]) × 100
TP true positive, TN true negative, FP false positive, FN false negative, N.A. not available
⁺Only A/B or C/D dispatch was available, which inhibited the calculation of certain variables

ISSN: 1757-7241