Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33576155›Full record

ArticleAcademic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine2021

Diagnostic accuracy of physician's gestalt in suspected COVID-19: Prospective bicentric study.

Peiman Nazerian, Fulvio Morello, Alessio Prota, Laura Betti, Enrico Lupia, Luc Apruzzese, Matteo Oddi, Federico Grosso, Stefano Grifoni, Emanuele Pivetta and 1 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Sort and Sieve: Pre-Triage Screening of Patients with Suspected COVID-19 in the Emergency Department.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Observational
  5. Inter-rater reliability and prospective validation of a clinical prediction rule for SARS-CoV-2 infection.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Peiman NazerianDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Careggi University Hospital, Firenze, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-1072-9148
Fulvio MorelloDepartment of Emergency Medicine, S.C. Medicina d'Urgenza, A.O.U. Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, Torino, Italy.
Alessio ProtaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Careggi University Hospital, Firenze, Italy.
Laura BettiDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Careggi University Hospital, Firenze, Italy.
Enrico LupiaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, S.C. Medicina d'Urgenza, A.O.U. Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, Torino, Italy.
Luc ApruzzeseDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Careggi University Hospital, Firenze, Italy.
Matteo OddiResidency Program in Emergency Medicine, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
Federico GrossoResidency Program in Emergency Medicine, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
Stefano GrifoniDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Careggi University Hospital, Firenze, Italy.
Emanuele PivettaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, S.C. Medicina d'Urgenza, A.O.U. Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Molinette Hospital, Torino, Italy.
ED COVID-19 Investigators
Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi · ITFondazione Ricerca Molinette · ITTorino e-district · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesPhysicians' gestalt is central in the diagnostic pipeline of suspected COVID-19, due to the absence of a single tool allowing conclusive rule in or rule out. The aim of this study was to estimate the diagnostic test characteristics of physician's gestalt for COVID-19 in the emergency department (ED), based on clinical findings or on a combination of clinical findings and bedside imaging results.

methodsFrom April 1 to April 30, 2020, patients with suspected COVID-19 were prospectively enrolled in two EDs. Physicians prospectively dichotomized patients in COVID-19 likely or unlikely twice: after medical evaluation of clinical features (clinical gestalt [CG]) and after evaluation of clinical features and results of lung ultrasound or chest x-ray (clinical and bedside imaging-integrated gestalt [CBIIG]). The final diagnosis was adjudicated after independent review of 30-day follow-up data.

resultsAmong 838 ED enrolled patients, 193 (23%) were finally diagnosed with COVID-19. The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of CG and CBIIG for COVID-19 were 80.8% and 91.6% (p < 0.01), 82.9% and 91.4% (p = 0.01), and 78.6% and 91.8% (p < 0.01), respectively. CBIIG had similar AUC and sensitivity to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 on the first nasopharyngeal swab per se (93.5%, p = 0.24; and 87%, p = 0.17, respectively). CBIIG plus RT-PCR had a sensitivity of 98.4% for COVID-19 (p < 0.01 vs. RT-PCR alone) compared to 95.9% for CG plus RT-PCR (p = 0.05).

conclusionsIn suspected COVID-19, CG and CBIIG have fair diagnostic accuracy, in line with physicians' gestalt for other acute conditions. Negative RT-PCR plus low probability based on CBIIG can rule out COVID-19 with a relatively low number of false-negative cases.

Indexed as

Coronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19PhysiciansHumansProspective StudiesSARS-CoV-2Sensitivity and SpecificityCOVID-19diagnosisemergency departmentgestaltlung ultrasound chest x-ray

Identifiers

PMID33576155
PMCPMC8014604
OpenAlexW3127081833

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.