Time series analysis of the demand for COVID-19 related chest imaging during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An explorative study.
PLoS One
; 16(3): e0247686, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1574773
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to investigate possible patterns of demand for chest imaging during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and derive a decision aid for the allocation of resources in future pandemic challenges. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
Time data of requests for patients with suspected or confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lung disease were analyzed between February 27th and May 27th 2020. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to evaluate differences in the number of requests between 3 time intervals (I1 6am - 2pm, I2 2pm - 10pm, I3 10pm - 6am). A cosinor model was applied to investigate the demand per hour. Requests per day were compared to the number of regional COVID-19 cases.RESULTS:
551 COVID-19 related chest imagings (32.8% outpatients, 67.2% in-patients) of 243 patients were conducted (33.3% female, 66.7% male, mean age 60 ± 17 years). Most exams for outpatients were required during I2 (I1 vs. I2 odds ratio (OR) = 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.62-0.86, p = 0.01; I2 vs. I3 OR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.04-1.48, p = 0.03) with an acrophase at 729 pm. Requests for in-patients decreased from I1 to I3 (I1 vs. I2 OR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.09-1.41, p = 0.01; I2 vs. I3 OR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.05-1.28, p = 0.01) with an acrophase at 1251 pm. The number of requests per day for outpatients developed similarly to regional cases while demand for in-patients increased later and persisted longer.CONCLUSIONS:
The demand for COVID-19 related chest imaging displayed distinct distribution patterns depending on the sector of patient care and point of time during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. These patterns should be considered in the allocation of resources in future pandemic challenges with similar disease characteristics.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Thorax
/
Diagnostic Imaging
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
PLoS One
Journal subject:
Science
/
Medicine
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Journal.pone.0247686
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