Reducing unnecessary admissions for chest pain with the Manchester Acute Coronary Syndromes (MACS) decision rule

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
When people suffer from chest pain we are often worried that the pains may be coming from a heart problem such as a heart attack. It is often difficult to tell quickly if a patient has pain from a heart problem or from something less serious like a muscle strain. Unfortunately, current blood tests do not give accurate results until at least 12 hours after the chest pain started. This often means an anxious wait and a delay before treatment can start. To help with the problem, we have developed the ‘Manchester Acute Coronary Syndromes (MACS) decision rule’ from research involving over 1,200 patients. This rule uses blood test results and clinical information collected by the doctor. This rule could identify quickly who has had a heart attack. Many people could be safely reassured that they have not had a heart attack and could go home, avoiding unnecessary hospital admission for further tests. The MACS decision rule also helps doctors to make accurate decisions about the most appropriate ward for patients who do need admission. Before using the rule in practice, we must determine whether using it in reality produces measurable benefit. This will require a large study at many centres across the country. Before starting on this, the aim is to run a smaller study that will find out the possibility of conducting such a large study.

Who can participate?
Adult patients who come to the Emergency Department with chest pain that doctors suspect may have been caused by a heart attack.

What does the study involve?
Participants are randomly allocated to either the usual care group or the MACS decision rule group. Those in the usual care group receive the usual care, with no changes. Where permission is granted, additional blood samples are taken from these participants when they arrive at the Emergency Department and 1 hour later. The samples are stored to be tested for markers of heart disease at a later date, to improve the quality of the tests for heart disease. Participants who are allocated to the MACS decision rule group have their care guided by the MACS decision rule. The initial tests may identify that it is safe for these participants to return home without hospital admission. If so, participants and doctors can still jointly decide whether this is the most appropriate course of action for the individual participant. The MACS decision rule also allocates participants to one of four risk groups, which the doctor can use to decide the best area of the hospital for the participant to be treated in. Participants who are discharged from hospital early because of the decision rule will be given a follow up appointment. This usually takes place on the following day, but can also be arranged for any time within the next 3 days. This allows staff to take an extra blood sample as an extra check that the participant’s heart has not suffered any damage. To find out about participants’ experiences of taking part in this study, some participants are invited to give a detailed account of their experiences either during a telephone interview or during a focus group interview with between 4 and 8 other participants. The interviews are recorded to make sure that important details are not missed. It is very important to know whether the people taking part in this study experience any further medical problems soon after discharge. Participants are therefore contacted by telephone, email, letter or even a home visit (whichever is most convenient) after 7 days, 30 days and 6 months. Finally, participants are sent a questionnaire through the post after 30 days, 3 months and 6 months to find out the details of any health problems they may have had and to work out the costs of those problems to the National Health Service (NHS).

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The researchers cannot promise that taking part in this study will bring benefits to individual participants. It is possible that they will be able to return home sooner. If participants are invited and agree to take part in a focus group or a telephone interview to explore their experiences, they are offered a £10 high street voucher as a token of thanks and, if they have to travel to the hospital for this, travel and parking expenses are reimbursed. As the study does not involve changing the drugs that participants are taking, the risks of taking part are minimal. Previous research suggests that the risks of patients being discharged with an undetected heart attack are extremely small. If participants do go home earlier than usual, they are given an early appointment for a further blood test. If they did have a heart attack that had not previously been detected, it will be picked up by this blood test. If a heart attack is detected, participants will still receive all the appropriate treatment. In very rare cases, taking blood can lead to prolonged bleeding, bruising, accidental damage to the blood vessels and/or infections. However, all blood samples will be drawn by experienced staff members who have received appropriate training. The small amount of blood taken will not have any harmful effects for the participant’s.

Where is the study run from?
The study is sponsored by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UK) and will take place at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Salford Royal Hospital (UK).

When is study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
August 2013 to February 2014

Who is funding the study?
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Dr Richard Body
richard.body@cmft.nhs.uk

Contact information

Study information

Eligibility

Locations

Countries of recruitment

• United Kingdom
• England

Study participating centres

Results and Publications

Study outputs

Editorial Notes

15/05/2017: Publication references added.
18/07/2016: No publications found, verifying study status with principal investigator.