COVID-19 among Patients Visiting the Department of Emergency of a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

TL;DR

This study reports a high prevalence of COVID-19 among emergency department patients at a tertiary care center in 2021.

Contribution

The study provides updated prevalence data from an emergency care setting during the pandemic.

Findings

46.55% of suspected patients tested positive for COVID-19 using Ag-RDT.

The majority of infected patients were males aged 31-40 years.

Abstract

Because of the unbridled transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 worldwide, researchers and healthcare professionals have set a common goal for timely diagnosis and future prevention of the disease. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of COVID-19 among patients visiting the Department of Emergency of a tertiary care centre.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the individuals suspected COVID-19 who had visited the Department of Emergency of a tertiary care centre between 11 January 2021 and 29 December 2021. Ethical approval was taken from Ethical Review Board (Reference number: 2768). Socio-demographic details, clinical symptoms, and two nasopharyngeal swab samples (one in viral transport medium to run RT-PCR and the other for Ag-RDT) were collected from each individual. Convenience sampling method was used. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated.

Among the 232 patients, COVID-19 was detected in 108 (46.55%) (40.13-52.97, 95% CI) by Ag-RDT. A total of 44 (39.63%) of age groups 31-40 years were predominantly infected with SARS-CoV-2. The mean age was 32.13±10.80 years and was mostly males 73 (65.77%). Fever was present in 57 (51.35%) and dry cough was present in 50 (45.05%) COVID-19 patients.

The prevalence of COVID-19 among hospitalized individuals in this study was higher than in previous studies conducted in similar settings.