ObjectivesIdentifying patients with a possible SARS-CoV-2 infection in the emergency department (ED) is challenging. Symptoms differ, incidence rates vary and test capacity may be limited. As PCR-testing all ED patients is neither feasible nor effective in most centres, a rapid, objective, low-cost early warning score to triage ED patients for a possible infection is developed.DesignCase–control study.SettingSecondary and tertiary hospitals in the Netherlands.ParticipantsThe study included patients presenting to the ED with venous blood sampling from July 2019 to July 2020 (n=10 417, 279 SARS-CoV-2-positive). The temporal validation cohort covered the period from July 2020 to October 2021 (n=14 080, 1093 SARS-CoV-2-positive). The external validation cohort consisted of patients presenting to the ED of three hospitals in the Netherlands (n=12 061, 652 SARS-CoV-2-positive).Primary outcome measuresThe primary outcome was one or more positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results within 1 day prior to or 1 week after ED presentation.ResultsThe resulting ‘CoLab-score’ consists of 10 routine laboratory measurements and age. The score showed good discriminative ability (AUC: 0.930, 95% CI 0.909 to 0.945). The lowest CoLab-score had high sensitivity for COVID-19 (0.984, 95% CI 0.970 to 0.991; specificity: 0.411, 95% CI 0.285 to 0.520). Conversely, the highest score had high specificity (0.978, 95% CI 0.973 to 0.983; sensitivity: 0.608, 95% CI 0.522 to 0.685). The results were confirmed in temporal and external validation.ConclusionsThe CoLab-score is based on routine laboratory measurements and is available within 1 hour after presentation. Depending on the prevalence, COVID-19 may be safely ruled out in over one-third of ED presentations. Highly suspect cases can be identified regardless of presenting symptoms. The CoLab-score is continuous, in contrast to the binary outcome of lateral flow testing, and can guide PCR testing and triage ED patients.
published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User
Background Measurement of heart rate (HR) through an unobtrusive, wrist-worn optical HR monitor (OHRM) could enable earlier recognition of patient deterioration in low acuity settings and enable timely intervention. Objective The goal of this study was to assess the agreement between the HR extracted from the OHRM and the gold standard 5-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) connected to a patient monitor during surgery and in the recovery period. Methods In patients undergoing surgery requiring anesthesia, the HR reported by the patient monitor’s ECG module was recorded and stored simultaneously with the photopletysmography (PPG) from the OHRM attached to the patient’s wrist. The agreement between the HR reported by the patient’s monitor and the HR extracted from the OHRM’s PPG signal was assessed using Bland-Altman analysis during the surgical and recovery phase. Results A total of 271.8 hours of data in 99 patients was recorded simultaneously by the OHRM and patient monitor. The median coverage was 86% (IQR 65%-95%) and did not differ significantly between surgery and recovery (Wilcoxon paired difference test P=.17). Agreement analysis showed the limits of agreement (LoA) of the difference between the OHRM and the ECG HR were within the range of 5 beats per minute (bpm). The mean bias was –0.14 bpm (LoA between –3.08 bpm and 2.79 bpm) and –0.19% (LoA between –5 bpm to 5 bpm) for the PPG- measured HR compared to the ECG-measured HR during surgery; during recovery, it was –0.11 bpm (LoA between –2.79 bpm and 2.59 bpm) and –0.15% (LoA between –3.92% and 3.64%). Conclusions This study shows that an OHRM equipped with a PPG sensor can measure HR within the ECG reference standard of –5 bpm to 5 bpm or –10% to 10% in the perioperative setting when the PPG signal is of sufficient quality. This implies that an OHRM can be considered clinically acceptable for HR monitoring in low acuity hospitalized patients.
Background COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic leading to exhaustion of the hospital care system. Our health care system has to deal with a high level of sick leave of health care workers (HCWs) with COVID-19 related complaints, in whom an infection with SARS-CoV-2 has to be ruled out before they can return back to work. The aim of the present study is to investigate if the recently described CoLab-algorithm can be used to exclude COVID-19 in a screening setting of HCWs. Methods In the period from January 2021 till March 2021, HCWs with COVID-19-related complaints were prospectively collected and included in this study. Next to the routinely performed SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR, using a set of naso- and oropharyngeal swab samples, two blood tubes (one EDTA- and one heparin-tube) were drawn for analysing the 10 laboratory parameters required for running the CoLab-algorithm. Results In total, 726 HCWs with a complete CoLab-laboratory panel were included in this study. In this group, 684 HCWs were tested SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR negative and 42 cases RT-PCR positive. ROC curve analysis showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.853 (95% CI: 0.801–0.904). At a safe cut-off value for excluding COVID-19 of -6.525, the sensitivity was 100% with a specificity of 34% (95% CI: 21 to 49%). No SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR cases were missed with this cut-off and COVID-19 could be safely ruled out in more than one third of HCWs. Conclusion The CoLab-score is an easy and reliable algorithm that can be used for screening HCWs with COVID-19 related complaints. A major advantage of this approach is that the results of the score are available within 1 hour after collecting the samples. This results in a faster return to labour process of a large part of the COVID-19 negative HCWs (34%), next to a reduction in RT-PCR tests (reagents and labour costs) that can be saved.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.