Table 2.
Ratings of epinephrine autoinjector and manual intramuscular injection by 172 survey respondentsa.
| Parameter (no. of respondents)a | Epinephrine autoinjector,b mean (SD); median (IQR) | Manual IM injection,b mean (SD); median (IQR) | P valuec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of use (161:150) | 85.5 (16.4); 90 (80–97) | 49.6 (24.7); 50 (29–67) | <0.001 |
| Convenience (162:155) | 88.7 (15.0); 94.5 (85–100) | 38.2 (26.3); 33 (17–50) | <0.001 |
| Satisfaction with weight-based dosing (152:148) | 68.3 (23.5); 69.5 (50–90) | 56.7 (25.8); 50 (45–77) | <0.001 |
| Risk of dosing errors (155:152) | 20.1 (19.8); 15 (4–27) | 67.8 (22.0); 72 (52–83) | <0.001 |
| Cost to patient (133:129) | 58.2 (15.9); 50 (50–70) | 40.6 (16.9); 50 (27–50) | <0.001 |
| Speed of administration (161:154) | 84.1 (16.6); 90 (76–97) | 45.7 (23.3); 50 (28–61) | <0.001 |
| Risk of self-injury (155:154) | 52.6 (24.8); 58 (30–73) | 38.4 (22.4); 39 (20–50) | <0.001 |
| Subset of 49 respondentsd | |||
| Ease of use (46:44) | 87.8 (18.2); 95.5 (85–99) | 53.8 (28.9); 50.5 (27–75) | <0.001 |
| Convenience (45:45) | 92.5 (10.7); 96 (91–100) | 38.3 (29.7); 30 (15–60) | <0.001 |
| Satisfaction with weight-based dosing (47:45) | 65.7 (27.2); 60 (50–97) | 59.9 (30.7); 65 (40–88) | 0.47 |
| Risk of dosing errors (45:45) | 19.7 (20.3); 14 (3–26) | 71.4 (25.6); 75 (60–94) | <0.001 |
| Cost to patient (41:39) | 63.0 (17.5); 61 (50–77) | 38.5 (16.9); 50 (25–50) | <0.001 |
| Speed of administration (46:46) | 86.2 (16.7); 90.5 (80–98) | 44.6 (25.6); 36.5 (25–66) | <0.001 |
| Risk of self-injury (47:47) | 57.7 (25.3); 60 (30–79) | 36.0 (20.6); 34 (20–50) | <0.001 |
| Subset of 103 ED nurses | |||
| Ease of use (95:90) | 87.9 (16.2); 94 (84–99) | 50.9 (25.8); 50 (29–67) | <0.001 |
| Convenience (94:92) | 89.9 (16.1); 96 (87–100) | 39.1 (28.1); 34 (18.5–50) | <0.001 |
| Satisfaction with weight-based dosing (89:87) | 70.1 (24.4); 74 (50–94) | 54.7 (26.3); 50 (41–75) | <0.001 |
| Risk of dosing errors (92:90) | 18.0 (18.7); 11.5 (2.5–26) | 68.1 (23.7); 75 (50–86) | <0.001 |
| Cost to patient (73:71) | 57.1 (13.8); 50 (50–70) | 43.2 (12.6); 50 (36–50) | <0.001 |
| Speed of administration (96:92) | 88.0 (14.6); 92 (83.5–98) | 46.6 (25.0); 50 (28.5–67.5) | <0.001 |
| Risk of self-injury (91:90) | 49.8 (25.0); 50 (26–70) | 44.0 (21.7); 50 (26–60) | 0.14 |
ED, emergency department; IM, intramuscular; SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range.
The first number represents the number of respondents who rated the parameter for the epinephrine autoinjector and the second number represents the number of respondents who rated the parameter for manual injection.
Higher scores indicate increased ease of use, increased convenience, greater satisfaction with weight-based dosing, increased risk of dosing errors, greater cost to patient, higher speed of administration, and higher risk of self-injury scores.
P values obtained from Wilcoxon signed rank tests for paired data.
Subset of 49 respondents with epinephrine autoinjector and IM manual injection of epinephrine experience in the ED.