A total of 314 patients (mean age 66 years ± 17.7 yr; 118 female (37.6%)) were included in the analysis. Baseline characteristics are summarized in Table 1. According to the MTS 52 patients were classified as “red” (16.6%), 28 patients as “orange” (8.9%), 118 patients as “yellow” (37.8%), 111 patients as “green” (35.4%) and 3 patients as “blue” (1.0%).
Table 1 Characteristics of patients who were admitted to the emergency department due to symptoms suspicious for COVID-19
All (n=314) COVID-19 pos.(n=43) No-COVID-19(n=271) pValue
Age, mean (±SD, range) 66 (±17.72, 22-97) 71 (±17.03;23-94) 65 (±17.70;22-97) 0.057
Male gender, n (%) 196 (62.4) 28 (65.1) 168 (62.0) 0.694
Manchester triage, n (%)
Red 52 (16.6) 4 (9.3) 48 (17.7) 0.160
Orange 28 (8.9) 3 (7.0) 25 (9.2) 0.622
Yellow 118 (37.8) 13 (30.2) 105 (39.0) 0.269
Green 111 (35.4) 23 (53.5) 88 (32.5) 0.008
Blue 3 (1.0) 0 (0) 3 (1.1) 0.487
Forty-three patients (13.7%) were tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 by nasopharyngeal swab. Results after comparison of the COVID-19 patients and the patients with negative swab are listed in table 2.
Of the 271 with negative test results, 55 underwent repeated testing due to ongoing suspicion of COVID-19. Two of those 55 (3.6%) revealed to be positive in the course of clinical treatment but were not included in our primary analysis of COVID-19 positive patients.
Of all COVID-19 patients, 14% (6/43) reported dysgeusia, while this clinical feature was only present in 1.5% (4/271) of non COVID-19 patients (p=0.001). Significant differences between the two groups were not observed for other clinical features (figure 3).
Patients with COVID-19 had significant less preexisting renal disorders (9.3% vs 27.0%; p-value 0.012). No significant differences were observed for the presence of a preexisting cardiac or pulmonary disorder, previous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and oncological diseases between COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative patients.
There were significantly more active smokers in the non-COVID-19 group than in the group with COVID-19 positive patients (13.7% vs 2.3%; p=0.034). However, the number of patients with an unknown smoking status was, although not significantly, also higher in the non-COVID-19 group than in the group tested positively (58.3% vs 16.0%; p=0.154).
The mortality of COVID-19 patients admitted to our hospital via the ED was 18.6%, which was not significantly higher than patients admitted with similar symptoms but negative COVID-19 result (11.1%) (p=0.159).
In the group of the COVID-19 patients, 18 patients (41.9%) were treated with oxygen upon admission in the emergency department. However, this was not significant different to the 77 patients (28.5%) of the non-COVID-19 group who were supported with oxygen.
We could not find any significant differences regarding to vital parameters and laboratory values between the two groups (table 2)
Table 2 Comparison of patients with symptoms suspicious for COVID-19 with proven infection vs negative test result
All (n=314) COVID-19 pos.(n=43) No-COVID-19(n=271) pValue
Medical history positive for, n (%)
Cardiac 208 (66.5) 28 (65.1) 180 (66.7) 0.841
Pulmonary 96 (30.7) 10 (23.3) 86 (31.9) 0.256
LAE/thrombosis 24 (7.7) 2 (4.7) 22 (8.1) 0.423
Renal 77 (24.6) 4 (9.3) 73 (27.0) 0.012
Cancer 84 (26.8) 10 (23.3) 74 (27.4) 0.568
Smoker, n (%)
Never 57 (18.2) 9 (20.9) 48 (17.7) 0.611
Yes 38 (12.1) 1 (2.3) 37 (13.7) 0.034
Quitted 31 (9.9) 3 (7.0) 28 (10.3) 0.493
Unknown 188 (59.9) 30 (16.0) 158 (58.3) 0.154
Symptoms, n (%)
Dyspnoe 151 (48.1) 18 (41.9) 133 (49.1) 0.379
Sore throat 26 (8.3) 4 (9.3) 22 (8.1) 0.793
Cough 134 (42.7) 24 (55.8) 110 (40.6) 0.061
Fever 172 (54.8) 27 (62.8) 145 (53.5) 0.256
Headache 26 (8.3) 5 (11.6) 21 (7.7.) 0.391
Fatigue 162 (51.6) 22 (51.2) 140 (51.7) 0.920
Myalgia 47 (15.0) 5 (11.6) 42 (15.5) 0.509
Chest pain 22 (7.0) 1 (2.3) 21 (7.7) 0.196
Nausea 68 (21.7) 5 (11.6) 63 (23.2) 0.086
Diarrhea 74 (23.6) 11 (25.6) 63 (23.2) 0.738
Dysgeusia 10 (3.2) 6 (14.0) 4 (1.5) 0.001
Treatment, n (%)
O2-therapy 95 (30.4) 18 (41.9) 77 (28.5) 0.077
Ventilator 12 (3.8) 3 (7.0) 9 (3.3) 0.278
Intensive Care 54 (17.2) 4 (9.3) 50 (18.5) 0.140
Intermediate Care 28 (8.9) 4 (9.3) 24 (8.9) 0.924
Time of admission 7.3 (7.2) 8.6 (8.3) 7.1 (7.0) 0.214
Vital parameters
Respiratory rate/ min (±SD) 22 (±8) 23 (±7) 22 (±8) 0.149
Heart Rate/ min (±SD) 97 (±22) 93 (±17) 97 (±23) 0.271
Saturation, O2 in % (±SD) 94 (±7) 95 (±4) 94 (±7) 0.479
Temperature in °C (±SD) 37.2 (±1.3) 37.3 (±1.0) 37.2 (±1.3) 0.916
BP systolic in mmHg (±SD) 132 (±26) 137 (±25) 131 (±26) 0.172
BP diastolic in mmHg (±SD) 80 (±21) 84 (±18) 80 (±21) 0.250
Laboratory values
C-reactive protein, mg/L 8.96 (±8.41) 8.28 (±5.71) 9.07 (±8.78) 0.446
Procalcitonin, µg/L (±SD) 3.96 (±28.26) 0.68 (±1.98) 4.51 (±30.52) 0.429
Troponin I, µg/L (±SD) 360.42 (±3846.98) 81.03 (±286.99) 410.94 (±4178.37) 0.656
LDH, U/L (±SD) 398.70 (±427.95) 435.31 (±268.11) 393.03 (±447.75) 0.567
Creatinine, mg/dL (±SD) 1.37 (±1.18) 1.20 (±0.93) 1.40 (±1.22) 0.309
GFR, ml/min (±SD) 56 (±23) 59 (±21) 55 (±23) 0.385
D-dimer, mg/L (±SD) 4.45 (±7.97) 4.52 (±8.15) 4.44 (±7.96) 0.957
WBC /mm3 (±SD) 11.25 (±14.77) 8.01 (±4.24) 11.75 (±15.74) 0.127
Lymphocytes /mm3 (±SD) 1.96 (±7.59) 1.17 (±1.44) 2.10 (±8.22) 0.538