• Alejandro Pérez-Milena, Ana Leyva-Alarcón, Raquel M Barquero-Padilla, Melody Peña-Arredondo, Cristóbal Navarrete-Espinosa, and Carmen Rosa-Garrido.
• Centro de Salud El Valle, Distrito Sanitario Jaén - Jaén Sur, Servicio Andaluz de Salud, Jaén, España. Electronic address: alejandro.perez.milena.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es.
• Aten Primaria. 2022 Jan 1; 54 (1): 102156.

ObjectiveTo know the characteristics of the initial care and telephone follow-up of patients with suspected COVID-19 in the first wave of the pandemic.DesignObservational, retrospective (audit of medical records).LocationUrban Primary Care Center of Andalusia (Spain).ParticipantsProbable cases of SARS-CoV-2 (from 20/03/15 to 20/06/15).Principal MeasurementsInitial medical assessment (place and modality) and telephone follow-up (number of calls and duration). Sociodemographic variables (including family structure). Clinical course (symptoms, vulnerability, tests, hospital admission and outcome).ResultsThree hundred one patients (51.5±17.8 years; 23% vulnerable people; 17% non-nuclear family structure). First assessment in Primary Care by phone (59.8%) and face-to-face (25.2%). At the hospital emergency department (11%), patients were more frequently from non-nuclear families (P<.05 χ2) and more tests were carried out (P<.05 χ2) despite having similar symptoms. Vulnerable elderly patients needed home health care (P<.01 ANOVA). 8.2±4.4 follow-up phone calls were made per patient, for 17.1±10.3 days. It increases after ≥2 face-to-face consultations (OR 4.8), the presence of alarm symptoms (OR 2.3) and age ≥45 years (OR 2.0). Few confirmatory tests were performed (19.3% antigenic, 13% serology). The 15.3% hospital admissions (all assessed previously in Primary Care), with 6.3% severe cases and 2.3% death.ConclusionPopulation chose to be attended in Primary Care during the pandemic first wave, above all by phone. Telephone follow-up was well accepted and useful to select patients with serious complications. Initial medical assessment in the hospital emergency department was related to a lack of social support but not with greater clinical severity.Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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