Real-Time CDC Consultation during the COVID-19 Pandemic-United States, March-July, 2020.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 18(14)2021 Jul 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1302325
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) clinicians provided real-time telephone consultation to healthcare providers, public health practitioners, and health department personnel. OBJECTIVE:
To describe the demographic and public health characteristics of inquiries, trends, and correlation of inquiries with national COVID-19 case reports. We summarize the results of real-time CDC clinician consultation service provided during 11 March to 31 July 2020 to understand the impact and utility of this service by CDC for the COVID-19 pandemic emergency response and for future outbreak responses.DESIGN:
Clinicians documented inquiries received including information about the call source, population for which guidance was sought, and a detailed description of the inquiry and resolution. Descriptive analyses were conducted, with a focus on characteristics of callers as well as public health and clinical content of inquiries.SETTING:
Real-time telephone consultations with CDC Clinicians in Atlanta, GA.PARTICIPANTS:
Health care providers and public health professionals who called CDC with COVID-19 related inquiries from throughout the United States. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Characteristics of inquiries including topic of inquiry, inquiry population, resolution, and demographic information.RESULTS:
A total of 3154 COVID-19 related telephone inquiries were answered in real-time. More than half (62.0%) of inquiries came from frontline healthcare providers and clinical sites, followed by 14.1% from state and local health departments. The majority of inquiries focused on issues involving healthcare workers (27.7%) and interpretation or application of CDC's COVID-19 guidance (44%).CONCLUSION:
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a substantial number of inquiries to CDC, with the large majority originating from the frontline clinical and public health workforce. Analysis of inquiries suggests that the ongoing focus on refining COVID-19 guidance documents is warranted, which facilitates bidirectional feedback between the public, medical professionals, and public health authorities.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph18147251
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