Evaluation of the Clinical Characteristics of the Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department with the Symptoms or Suspicion of COVID-19.

Objective: Emergency departments have been the first step in managing the COVID-19 infection, which has been declared a worldwide pandemic. This study aims to determine the clinical characteristics of patients admitted to the emergency department with the suspicion or symptoms of COVID-19 infection. Methods: The sample of our study consisted of patients aged 18 and over who were admitted to the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Istanbul with symptoms or suspicion of COVID-19 between September and December 2020. Five hundred patients with positive RT-PCR test results and 500 patients with negative test results were included in the study. The patients' data were retrieved retrospectively through the hospital's information management system. Results: The mean age of patients with COVID -19 (-) (53.2±18.1) was lower than that of patients with COVID -19 (+) (59.2±18.4) (p=0.001). The distribution of sex (p=0.61) and occupation (p=0.52) was similar in both groups. The rate of presentation with dyspnea was higher in COVID -19 (+) patients (37.6%) than in the COVID -19 (-) group (22%) (p=0.001). Body temperature measured in the emergency department was higher in COVID -19 (+) patients than in COVID -19 (-) patients (p=0.04). Mean SPO2 was lower in COVID -19 (+) patients (92.3±9.6%) than in COVID -19 (-) patients (96.2±4.8%) (p=0.001). The incidence of ground-glass opacities in the thorax CT was higher (59.6%) in the COVID -19 (+) patient group than in the COVID -19 (-) (47.5%) patient group (p=0.003). Conclusion: In this study, the clinical features of COVID-19 infection in patients admitted to the emergency department were compared with the literature. Conducting similar studies on COVID-19 infection is essential to update the existing literature and add new data. More comprehensive studies and evidence are needed to effectively manage the diagnosis and treatment process of the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]