ArticleCMAJ open
COVID-19 screening of asymptomatic patients admitted through emergency departments in Alberta: a prospective quality-improvement study.
Article in CMAJ open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Signs and symptoms to determine if a patient presenting in primary care or hospital outpatient settings has COVID-19.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Examining the experiences of pediatric mental health care providers during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC psychology · 2023Article
- SARS-CoV-2 in children and their accompanying caregivers: Implications for testing strategies in resource limited hospitals.African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence · 2022Article
- Observational
- Article
- Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Patients With Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis: A National COVID Cohort Collaborative Study.Gastroenterology · 2021Article
- Multicenter Postimplementation Assessment of the Positive Predictive Value of SARS-CoV-2 Antigen-Based Point-of-Care Tests Used for Screening of Asymptomatic Continuing Care Staff.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among asymptomatic patients admitted to hospital has implications for personal protective equipment use, testing strategy and confidence in the safety of acute care services. Our aim was to estimate the positivity rate of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing among people admitted to hospital without symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Alberta, Canada.
methodsBetween Apr. 9 and May 24, 2020, we screened for COVID-19 symptoms and tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection in all consecutive adult patients (≥ 18 yr) admitted via emergency department to 3 Alberta hospitals. We summarized the parameters of the epidemic curve and assessed the performance of symptom screening versus RT-PCR results on nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab samples.
resultsThe study period encompassed Alberta's initial epidemic curve, with peak active cases per 100 000 of 71.4 (0.07%) on Apr. 30, 2020, and 14.7 and 14.6 at the beginning (Apr. 9, 2020) and end (May 24, 2020), respectively. Testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection (64.9% throat and 35.1% nasopharyngeal swabs) was done on 3375 adults (mean age 51, standard deviation 21, yr; 51.5% men). None of the asymptomatic patients (
interpretationIn a region with low disease prevalence where protocolized symptom assessment was in place during the admission process, we did not identify people admitted to hospital without COVID-19 symptoms who were RT-PCR positive. There may not be additive benefit to universal testing of asymptomatic patients on hospital admission in a setting of low pretest probability and strong public health containment.
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