Outcomes of Discharged Coronavirus Disease of 2019 Patients from an Emergency Department at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Background: Patients with Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) infection can develop varying degrees of illness severity. A critical decision point for all frontline providers affects to whether a given patient is at high risk for severe illness and thus needs inpatient care as opposed to recovery at home. Aim of the study: The aim of the current study is to assess the outcomes of the suspected Covid-19 patients who were swabbed after presenting to the Emergency Department at King Abdullah Medical City and their result came positive for Covid-19. Subjects and Methods: A retrospective pilot study was conducted at KAMC, Holy Makkah-Saudi Arabia. Fifty-one positive covid-19 patients were included at this study. The demographic data, presenting complaint, The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS), comorbidities, discharging vital signs, and hospital revisits were extracted from the electronic medical records (EMR) using Trakcare system. Patients were followed up by phone calls after discharge from the ER for 14 days. Information regarding KAMC hospital revisit or other hospital revisit, quarantine location and length, seeking medical advice, and non-hospital revisit were obtained from the patients or their relatives. Data was collected from15th of March 2020 till 15th of June 2020. Then the outcomes were assessed. Chi-square test and independent sample t-test were used to compare proportions and continuous variables, respectively. The binary logistic regression calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI for the interested predictors. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: oxygen saturation was found to be the only independent predictor of revisiting COVID 19 patients (OR=0.46; P=0.009). Conclusion: oxygen saturation was found to be the only independent predictor of revisiting COVID 19 patients.