Clinical Characteristics and Management of Patients with a Suspected COVID-19 Infection in Emergency Departments: A European Retrospective Multicenter Study

Anthony Chauvin; Anna Slagman; Effie Polyzogopoulou; Lars Petter Bjørnsen; Visnja Nesek Adam; Ari Palomäki; Andrea Fabbri; Said Laribi; On Behalf Of The Eusem Research Network Study Group

doi:10.3390/jpm12122085

Clinical Characteristics and Management of Patients with a Suspected COVID-19 Infection in Emergency Departments: A European Retrospective Multicenter Study

J Pers Med. 2022 Dec 19;12(12):2085. doi: 10.3390/jpm12122085.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Emergency Department and PreHospital EMS, Lariboisiere Hospital, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, 75610 Paris, France.
² Inserm U942 MASCOT, University of Paris, 75015 Paris, France.
³ Departments of Emergency and Acute Medicine, Campus Mitte, Virchow-Klinikum Charité-Universitätsmedizin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Emergency Medicine Department, Attikon University Hospital, 12462 Athens, Greece.
⁵ Clinic of Emergency Medicine and Prehospital Care, Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, St. Olav's University Hospital, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7034 Trondheim, Norway.
⁶ Resuscitation and Intensive Care, University Department of Anesthesiology, Sveti Duh, University Hospital, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
⁷ Emergency Department, Division of Medicine, Kanta-Häme Central Hospital, 13530 Hämeenlinna, Finland.
⁸ Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, 33100 Tampere, Finland.
⁹ Emergency Department, Presidio Ospedaliero Morgagni-Pierantoni, AUSL Romagna, 47121 Forlì, Italy.
¹⁰ Emergency Medicine Department, Tours University Hospital, 37044 Tours, France.
¹¹ School of Medicine, Tours University, 37000 Tours, France.

Abstract

Background: Our aim is to describe and compare the profile and outcome of patients attending the ED with a confirmed COVID-19 infection with patients with a suspected COVID-19 infection. Methods: We conducted a multicentric retrospective study including adults who were seen in 21 European emergency departments (ED) with suspected COVID-19 between 9 March and 8 April 2020. Patients with either a clinical suspicion of COVID-19 or confirmed COVID-19, detected using either a RT-PCR or a chest CT scan, formed the C+ group. Patients with non-confirmed COVID-19 (C− group) were defined as patients with a clinical presentation in the ED suggestive of COVID-19, but if tests were performed, they showed a negative RT-PCR and/or a negative chest CT scan. Results: A total of 7432 patients were included in the analysis: 1764 (23.7%) in the C+ group and 5668 (76.3%) in the C− group. The population was older (63.8 y.o. ±17.5 vs. 51.8 y.o. +/− 21.1, p < 0.01), with more males (54.6% vs. 46.1%, p < 0.01) in the C+ group. Patients in the C+ group had more chronic diseases. Half of the patients (n = 998, 56.6%) in the C+ group needed oxygen, compared to only 15% in the C− group (n = 877). Two-thirds of patients from the C+ group were hospitalized in ward (n = 1128, 63.9%), whereas two-thirds of patients in the C− group were discharged after their ED visit (n = 3883, 68.5%). Conclusion: Our study was the first in Europe to examine the emergency department’s perspective on the management of patients with a suspected COVID-19 infection. We showed an overall more critical clinical situation group of patients with a confirmed COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; dyspnea; emergencies; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2).

Grants and funding

The EUROCOV study was performed under the supervision of the EUSEM Research network. Data management in Europe was provided by the European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM), a European non-profit organization. This research received no other specific grant from any funding agency in the public or commercial sectors.