Sex Differences in Guideline-consistent Diagnostic Testing for Acute Pulmonary Embolism Among Adult Emergency Department Patients Aged 18-49

Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a frequent diagnostic consideration in emergency department (ED) patients, yet diagnosis is challenging because symptoms of PE are nonspecific. Guidelines recommend the use of clinical decision tools to increase efficiency and avoid harms from overtesting, including D-dimer screening in patients not at high risk for PE. Women undergo testing for PE more often than men yet have a lower yield from testing. Our study objective was to determine whether patient sex influenced the odds of received guideline-consistent care.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study at two large U.S. academic EDs from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2018. Nonpregnant patients aged 18-49 years were included if they presented with chest pain, shortness of breath, hemoptysis, or syncope and underwent testing for PE with D-dimer or imaging. Demographic and clinical data were exported from the electronic medical record (EMR). Pretest risk scores were calculated using manually abstracted EMR data. Diagnostic testing was then compared with recommended testing based on pretest risk. The primary outcome was receipt of guideline-consistent care, which required an elevated screening D-dimer prior to imaging in all non-high-risk patients.

Results: We studied 1991 discrete patient encounters; 37% (735) of patients were male and 63% (1256) were female. Baseline characteristics, including revised Geneva scores, were similar between sexes. Female patients were more likely to receive guideline-consistent care (70% [874/1256] female vs. 63% [463/735] male, p < 0.01) and less likely to be diagnosed with PE (3.1% [39/1256] female vs. 5.3% [39/735] male, p < 0.05). The most common guideline deviation in both sexes was obtaining imaging without a screening D-dimer in a non-high-risk patient (75% [287/382] female vs. 75% [205/272] male).

Conclusions: In this cohort, females were more likely than males to receive care consistent with current guidelines and less likely to be diagnosed with PE.