Background: Nonspecific complaints (NSC) at the Emergency Department (ED) are not well researched yet.

Objective: To investigate the number of patients who could be classified as having NSC early after arrival in the ED using an algorithm.

Method: Retrospective cohort study was conducted among all hemodynamically stable non-trauma adult patients with MTS category orange/yellow visiting the ED. Patients who had no specific complaints/signs, predefined on a list, were categorized as NSC.

Results: In total, 2419 patients, of whom 102 (4.2%) presented with NSC. Hospitalization was more prevalent (85.3% vs. 69.0%, p<0.001) and in-hospital mortality was higher in the NSC-group (11.8% vs. 3.5%, adjusted OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.0-3.9, p=0.04).

Conclusion: Using an algorithm it is possible to identify NSC patients who have (worse) outcomes than those classified as SC.

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