Providing care in isolation while awaiting SARS-CoV-2 test results: Considering differential diagnoses and avoiding anchoring bias.
Journal
Medicine
ISSN: 1536-5964
Titre abrégé: Medicine (Baltimore)
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 2985248R
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
30 Jul 2021
30 Jul 2021
Historique:
received:
05
02
2021
accepted:
29
06
2021
entrez:
16
8
2021
pubmed:
17
8
2021
medline:
24
8
2021
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Isolation of confirmed or suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases is essential but, as symptoms of COVID-19 are non-specific and test results not immediately available, case identification at admission remains challenging. To inform optimization of triage algorithms, patient flow and patient care, we analyzed characteristics of patients admitted to an isolation ward, both severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2019 (SARS-CoV-2) positive patients and patients in which initial suspicion was not confirmed after appropriate testing.Data from patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 treated in an isolation unit were analyzed retrospectively. Symptoms, comorbidities and clinical findings were analyzed descriptively and associations between patient characteristics and final SARS-CoV-2 status were assessed using univariate regression.Eighty three patients (49 SARS-CoV-2 negative and 34 positive) were included in the final analysis. Of initially suspected COVID-19 cases, 59% proved to be SARS-CoV-2-negative. These patients had more comorbidities (Charlson Comorbidity Index median 5(interquartile range [IQR] 2.5, 7) vs 2.7(IQR 1, 4)), and higher proportion of active malignancy than patients with confirmed COVID-19 (47% vs 15%; P = .004), while immunosuppression was frequent in both patient groups (20% vs 21%; P = .984). Of SARS-CoV-2 negative patients, 31% were diagnosed with non-infectious diseases.A high proportion of patients (59%) triaged to the isolation unit were tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. Of these, many suffered from active malignancy (47%) and were immunosuppressed (20%). Non-infectious diseases were diagnosed in 31%, highlighting the need for appropriate patient flow, timely expert medical care including evaluation for differential diagnostics while providing isolation and ruling out of COVID-19 in these patients with complex underlying diseases.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34397706
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000026720
pii: 00005792-202107300-00027
pmc: PMC8322513
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e26720Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors have no funding and conflicts of interests to disclose.
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