Risk of readmission to the emergency department in mild COVID-19 outpatients with telehealth follow-up

PEDRETTI, ANA; VALLONE, MARCELO; MARTINEZ, BERNARDO; MARQUEZ FOSSER, SANTIAGO; PLAZZOTTA, FERNANDO; RODRIGUEZ, PAZ; PASQUINELLI, ROSARIO; LUNA, DANIEL; GRANDE RATTI, MARÍA FLORENCIA

REVISTA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS MEDICAS DE CORDOBA

Creative Commons

Año: 2021 vol. 78 p. 249 - 256

0014-6722

Introduction:To describe patients ́ characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 with mild symptoms discharged home from the Emergency Department (ED) and followed using telemedicine, to estimate ED-readmission rates and hospitalization, and to explore associated factors withthese clinical outcomes.Methods:We performed a retrospective cohort study in Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires from June to August 2020, which included patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms, diagnosed with a positive result. Follow-up occurred from discharged until ED-readmission or 14 days. We estimate cumulative incidence using the Kaplan-Meier model and associated factors using logistic regression.Results:We included 1,239 patients, with a median of 41 years and 53.82% male. A total of 167 patients were readmitted to the ED within 14 days, with a global incidence rate of 13.08% (95%CI 11.32-15.08). Of these, 83 required hospitalization (median time from diagnosis 4.98 days), 5.98% was not related to any COVID-19 complication, and five patients died. After adjustment by confounders (age ≥65, sex, diabetes, hypertension, former smoking, active smoking, fever, diarrhea, and oxygen saturation), we found significant associations: former smoking (adjusted OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.31-3.34, p0 .002), fever (aOR 1.56,95% CI 1.07-2.28, p0.002) and oxygen saturation (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71-0.95, p0.009).Conclusion:The 13% rate of ED-readmission during 14 days of follow-up of mild symptomatic COVID-19 patients initially managed as outpatients with telehealth is highly significant in hospital management, quality performance, and patient safe