Barriers to Cardiogenic Shock Recognition: A Qualitative Analysis

Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a complex heterogeneous syndrome with various causes and phenotypes, making it difficult for clinicians to diagnose. At our institution, we found several cases of missed and late recognition of CS.

Our institutional CS work group interviewed clinicians to identify barriers to CS recognition. Thirty-minute interviews with a series of 6 scripted questions were conducted.

Fifteen interviews were conducted among the following clinicians: cardiology fellow (n = 1), emergency medicine (EM) resident (n = 3), heart failure nurse practitioner (n = 1), general cardiologist (n = 2), EM physician assistant (n = 2), internal medicine resident (n = 3), heart failure cardiologist (n = 1), EM physician (n = 1), and internal medicine physician (n = 1). The top barrier themes that emerged were 1) focus on septic shock management, 2) need for CS-specific training, 3) missed subtle signs of CS, 4) resource allocation, and 5) systems improvement.

There are several barriers to CS recognition that are common among clinicians. Future research should evaluate how to address these barriers to improve outcomes.