The ED-CO study: screening for carbon monoxide exposure in the ED

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  The ED-CO study : a prospective enhance surveillance study of carboxyhaemoglobin levels in patients attending the Emergency Department with symptoms suggestive of carbon monoxide exposure

• IRAS ID

  248936

• Contact name

  Heather Jarman

• Contact email

  heather.jarman@stgeorges.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 6 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Summary of Research
  The incidence of carbon monoxide (CO) exposure in England is not known; it is thought to be misdiagnosed by health professionals, with potential risks to patients of ill health and death. The primary aim of the project is to identify how commonly people presenting to emergency departments are actually exposed to CO, which will inform how policy makers and public health staff develop appropriate preventative strategies in future. The secondary aims are to evaluate a screening tool for CO exposure, to help to interpret levels of CO in patients' blood and to try to identify blood markers of CO exposure that are more reliable and easy to interpret than current tests. Lastly, recent evidence has suggested that there may be an association between dementia and CO exposure; hospital discharge codes will be
  scrutinised to estimate the frequency of a diagnosis of dementia and the different rates of dementia observed between patients who have and have not been exposed to carbon monoxide.

  Summary of Results
  We carried out a large study across four different Emergency Departments to determine how many people might have been unintentionally exposed to carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a colourless, tasteless, odourless gas produced from faulty or poorly maintained fuel-burning appliances and is the most common cause death from poisoning worldwide. 4190 patients took part. We found that 159 (3.8%) had raised levels of carboxyhaemaglobin (COHb) in their blood stream which could indicate exposure to carbon monoxide.

• REC name

  London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  18/LO/1381

• Date of REC Opinion

  12 Oct 2018

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion