• Revista médica de Chile · Aug 2021

    [Clinical features of COVID-19 infection among patients consulting at an emergency service].

    • Fernando Saldías Peñafiel, Alejandro PeñAloza Tapia, Daniela Farías Nesvadba, Katia Farcas Oksenberg, Antonia Reyes Sánchez, Josefina Cortés Meza, Pablo Urzúa Canales, Bárbara Lara Hernández, Aguilera FuenzalidaPabloPSección de Medicina de Urgencia, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile., and Isabel Leiva Rodríguez.
    • Departamento de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
    • Rev Med Chil. 2021 Aug 1; 149 (8): 1107-1118.

    BackgroundCOVID-19 is a serious public health problem worldwide.AimTo describe the clinical features of COVID-19 infection in adult patients consulting at an Emergency Service.Material And MethodsDescriptive prospective study of adult patients with suspected COVID-19 consulting between April 1 and July 31, 2020, at the Emergency Service of a clinical hospital. Clinical features, chronic comorbidities and demographic data were recorded.ResultsWe assessed 2,958 adult patients aged 42 ± 15 years (46% males). In 54% of them, COVID-19 infection was confirmed, 40% had preexisting diseases, especially hypertension (15%), hypothyroidism (6%), diabetes (6%), asthma (5%) and obesity (6%). The main clinical manifestations associated with COVID-19 were general malaise (79%), anorexia (38%), myalgia (64%), fever (52%), headache (70%), anosmia/dysgeusia (60%), cough (56%), dyspnea (54%) and diarrhea (36%). In the multivariate analysis, the main clinical predictors of COVID-19 infection were malaise, anorexia, fever, myalgia, headache, nasal congestion, cough, expectoration, anosmia/dysgeusia, and history of close contact with a SARS-CoV-2 patient. Odynophagia and chest discomfort were negative predictors of the disease. The history of fever associated with anorexia, cough, and dyspnea or anosmia/dysgeusia and close contact with a SARS-CoV-2 patient had high specificity and positive predictive value for COVID-19 infection.ConclusionsClinical features of COVID-19 infection were highly unspecific in these patients. Clinical diagnostic prediction models could be useful to support healthcare decision making at primary care setting.

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