Informing the Alfred Registry for Emergency Care Project: An analysis of presenting complaint documentation in an emergency department

Objective To assess the feasibility of an ED presenting complaint (PC) tool that categorised all ED PCs into 10 categories. Methods A retrospective analysis of 1445 consecutive patient encounters was conducted. The primary outcome was the frequency of use of the 10 PC categories. Results Of the 1203 patient encounters meeting inclusion criteria, the PC tool was completed by clinicians in 574 (47.7%). When completed, the tool's 10 options were selected for most presentations (72.3%). Conclusion The PC tool captured the majority of presenting complaints in 10 categories. External validation is recommended.