Readmission to the Emergency Room and Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Covid-19: A Single-Center Trial

Abstract

Objective: The rate of readmissions to the emergency room is an important indicator of measuring hospital performance and quality of care. This study aimed to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients with confirmed COVID-19, who presented to the emergency room of a training and research tertiary hospital and received medical treatment, but were readmitted to the hospital within 72 hours after being discharged.
 Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional, and single-centre trial. The data of patients who presented to the emergency room with the diagnosis of COVID-19 were obtained retrospectively from the Hospital Information Management System. Patient data comprised adult patients readmitted to the hospital between 01 March and 31 December 2020. 
 Results: Between 01 March and 31 December 2020, a total of 56,497 patients with the diagnosis of COVID-19 presented to our emergency room, and 0.04% of them returned to the emergency room with similar complaints within 72 hours. Among those who returned, 51.4% were female and the mean age was 41.67, mostly in the 30-49 age range. The present study found that 30.8%, who were readmitted, had at least one comorbidity, and those with comorbidities had lower saturation values at the readmission. On the other hand, the most common reason for admission in patients without comorbidities was found to be diarrhoea and loss of taste, while nausea and cough were the most common complaints in patients with comorbidities. 
 Conclusion: There is a need for the design of further studies in order to establish the criteria for the safe return of COVID-19 patients to home, and to reduce the re-admission rates and increase the quality of care.