Screening using the fifth vital sign in the electronic medical recording system.

Purpose: To investigate the usefulness of screening for patient symptoms as the fifth vital sign using an electronic medical recording system.

Patients And Methods: In the electronic medical recording system, all admitted patients received routine nurse-based assessment of discomfort (defined as any physical symptom) at every vital sign check regarding item 2 of the Support Team Assessment Schedule Japanese version (STAS-J). All cancer patients admitted to oncology units were screened at 1-week intervals. Screening-positive was defined when patients had a STAS-J score of 2 or more at least two times in a week. For all screening-positive patients, the palliative care team reviewed each patient's medical records, and provided written recommendations as needed. The primary outcomes were the proportion of screening-positive patient, and the proportion of patients deemed to need additional palliative treatment in the screening-positive patients.

Results: Of 2427 patients screened, 223 (9.1%; 95% confidence interval, 8-10%) met the screening-positive criterion. A total of 12 (5.4%; 95% confidence interval, 3-9%) of them were deemed to need additional palliative care, including six patients referred to the PCT within 1 week. In the remaining 211 screening-positive patients, 100 had received adequate palliative care, 68 had already been referred to the palliative care team and 43 had self-limiting transient discomfort.

Conclusion: This screening system was feasible but the majority of screening-positive patients did not require additional palliative care interventions.