• Chunxia Cao, Yue Li, Shaobo Fu, Yongzhong Zhang, Ning Li, Shike Hou, and Haojun Fan.
• Institute of Disaster Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, PR China.
• J Formos Med Assoc. 2022 Jul 1; 121 (7): 124812561248-1256.

BackgroundPatient delay of COVID-19 patients occurs frequently, which poses a challenge to the overall epidemic situation. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the extent of patient delay, explore its factors, and investigate the effects of patient interval on epidemic situation.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted with 136 COVID-19 patients in Tianjin, China. Factors associated with patient delay were explored using logistic regression models. The relationship was investigated by spearman correlation analysis and mean absolute error between patient interval of lagging days and epidemic situation.ResultsThe factors associated with patient delay of COVID-19 patients were mainly the imported cases, the first presentation to a tertiary hospital, close contacts and spatial accessibility to fever clinic. The longer the patient intervals of lagging days, the greater the number of new-onset and confirmed cases in 3-4 and 5-7 days after the first day symptoms, respectively.ConclusionIdentification and quarantine of close contacts, promoting the spatial accessibility to fever clinics and creating public awareness are crucial to shortening patient delays to flat the curve for COVID-19.Copyright © 2021 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

13 keywords...

hide…