A pre-admission triaging tool to predict severe COVID-19 cases: ABCD score.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Isolation of SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals is an important COVID-19 pandemic control measure. While most cases have uncomplicated infection, a small proportion of them has developed life-threatening disease. We set up a retrospective study to determine preadmission triaging tool to predict the development of severe COVID-19.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A retrospective study was conducted from 1 October 2020 to 31 January 2021 with enrolment of all SARS-CoV-2 PCR-confirmed persons aged ≥13 years. The disease severity was assessed on admission and daily throughout the hospitalisation. Test-positive individuals were considered as having "severe COVID-19" if they had ≥1 of the following: room air oxygen saturation 30 breaths/minute, signs of severe respiratory distress, or received mechanical ventilation and/or vasopressor therapy. Uni- and multi-variate analyses using SPSS Statistics Ver. 26 were performed.

RESULTS:

We showed that age ≥ 60 years, BMI ≥ 30.0, presentation on days 7-12 of illness, and ≥1 comorbidity were associated with development of severe COVID-19. A scoring system based on the four variables is a useful COVID-19 risk assessment tool. A total score ≥2 had a sensitivity of 60.9%, specificity of 88.2%, positive predictive value of 37.8% and negative predictive value of 95.0%.

CONCLUSION:

Development of preadmission triaging tool can help health care providers (HCPs) decide on the placement of test-positive individuals to appropriate isolation facilities according to the risk of developing severe COVID-19.

• Authors: T L L Sia, V Devaraja, M A Bujang, A K W Chang, H H Lim, M H Ooi, H H Chua
• Journal: The Medical journal of Malaysia (Med J Malaysia) Vol. 77 Issue 2 Pg. 237-240 (03 2022) ISSN: 0300-5283 [Print] Malaysia
• PMID: 35338633 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Adolescent
• COVID-19 (diagnosis)
• Humans
• Middle Aged
• Pandemics
• Retrospective Studies
• SARS-CoV-2
• Triage