Evaluation of Covid-19 Triage Assessment Scale in Patients Attending the Emergency Department

Abstract

Objective: To predict SARS-CoV-2 PCR positivity on the basis of symptoms and contact history of individuals who attend emergency department Methods: The data for the study which was of a prospective-methodological type were collected from 503 patients who attended emergency department of a hospital with suspected Covid-19 between 02 January - 15 March 2021 and were given Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Covid 19 Visual Triage Scale (VTS) and questionnaire were used for collecting data. Distribution of socio-demographic data was interpreted in frequency, percentage. Independent samples t-test and chi-square test were used to compare quantitative data. Cut-off value of the scale was determined. In the study, sensitivity and specificity of the scale were tested through scoring adopted based on the real time PCR test result. Results: According to the PCR test, 67% of the patients were tested negative while 33% of them were positive. According to Covid-19 VTS, 55% of the patients were found to be negative while 45% were found positive. Validation of scale resulted in 0.65 AUC with a 45% sensitivity and 82% specificity using a cut-off value >4. In its comparison with PCR test, the scale was found to detect 93 real positive and 204 real negative patients. Self-reported fever, cough, sore throat, loss of taste and smell and history of contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case were found to be strong predictors for detecting Covid-19(p<.05). Conclusions: In the study, sensitivity and specificity of Covid-19 VTS were found to be low. However, for Covid-19 and future pandemics, it is supposed to be useful in sorting patients during the early stages of the pandemic where testing facilities are limited and during the times of fluctuation.

Keywords

• Covid 19
• SARS-CoV-2
• Emergency triage
• sensitivity
• specificity.

References

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