Factors associated with readmission to the Emergency Department in a cohort of COVID-19 hospitalized patients

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to describe the symptomatology and main factors associated with readmission to the Emergency Department (ED) in COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital during the first wave of the pandemic at the San Cecilio University Hospital, Granada. Spain.Methods: An observational longitudinal study was conducted in a cohort of 441 patients admitted to our hospital with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 pob merase chain reaction (PCR) from 1 March to 15 April 2020. Patients were followed up through medical records 6 months after discharge. Sociodemographic, clinical and symptomatologic variables were collected. Descriptive. bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed.Results: The mean age of patients in the cohort was 66.4 years (s = 15.3), with 55.1% men. In-hospital mortality was 18.1% The presence of persistent symptomatology was high (64.5%), especially respiratory (53.2%), systemic (46.3%) and neurological (31.0%). A total of 75 (20.8%) patients were readmitted to the ED during the 6 months following hospital discharge. The main factors associated with readmission to the ED were polymedication (P = 0.031), living in a care home (P = 0.014), fever (P = 0.047). general malaise (P