Abstract
Background:
Knowledge of patient weight is required to guide initial intravenous fluid therapy for patients with sepsis-associated hypotension or elevated lactate. Previous studies have shown patients are better estimators of their weight than medical providers are; critically ill patients, however, may be unable to provide this information.
Objectives:
This study compares the accuracy of physician-estimated and patient self-reported weights to subsequent inpatient bed/stretcher scale weights for guiding initial protocol-based intravenous fluid therapy in the treatment of emergency department patients with suspected sepsis.
Methods:
Adult patients presenting with a suspected diagnosis of severe sepsis to a large, urban, academic emergency department had either physician-estimated or patient self-reported weights recorded on presentation. All patients had subsequent inpatient bed/stretcher scale weights recorded on the first day of hospitalization.
Results:
Physician-estimated and patient self-reported weights linearly correlated (P < .001) with inpatient bed/stretcher scale weights. Median accuracy error for physicians (5.4% [2.0-10.1]) and patients (3.9% [1.6-6.4]) was not significantly different (P = .28). Physician-estimated and patient self-reported weights accuracy was determined at multiple levels: within 5% (46%, 57%, respectively), 10% (75%, 90%), 15% (90%, 95%), and 20% (100%, 95%) error tolerances, as well accurate estimates within 5 kg (69.2%, 70.0%).
Conclusions:
Both physician-estimated and patient self-reported weights are reliable when calculating initial protocol-based intravenous fluid resuscitation for emergency department patients with sepsis.
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