Sort and Sieve: Pre-Triage Screening of Patients with Suspected COVID-19 in the Emergency Department.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 18(17)2021 09 02.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1390632
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
To reduce the risk of nosocomial transmission, suspected COVID-19 patients entering the Emergency Department (ED) were assigned to a high-risk (ED) or low-risk (acute medical unit, AMU) area based on symptoms, travel and contact history. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of our pre-triage screening method and to analyse the characteristics of initially undetected COVID-19 patients.METHODS:
This was a retrospective, observational, single centre study. Patients ≥ 18 years visiting the AMU-ED between 17 March and 17 April 2020 were included. Primary outcome was the (correct) number of COVID-19 patients assigned to the AMU or ED.RESULTS:
In total, 1287 patients visited the AMU-ED 525 (40.8%) AMU, 762 (59.2%) ED. Within the ED group, 304 (64.3%) of 473 tested patients were COVID-19 positive, compared to 13 (46.4%) of 28 tested patients in the AMU group. Our pre-triage screening accuracy was 63.7%. Of the 13 COVID-19 patients who were initially assigned to the AMU, all patients were ≥65 years of age and the majority presented with gastro-intestinal or non-specific symptoms.CONCLUSION:
Older COVID-19 patients presenting with non-specific symptoms were more likely to remain undetected. ED screening protocols should therefore also include non-specific symptoms, particularly in older patients.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Triage
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph18179271
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