ArticlePloS one2023
Comparing methods to classify admitted patients with SARS-CoV-2 as admitted for COVID-19 versus with incidental SARS-CoV-2: A cohort study.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT04702945 (Canadian COVID-19 Emergency Department Rapid Response Network), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers.
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.
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.
Canadian COVID-19 Emergency Department Rapid Response Network (CCEDRRN) - Population-based Registry of Suspected and Confirmed COVID-19 Cases
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fluid Balance is Associated with Differential Effects on Respiratory Failure between Critically Ill and Noncritically Ill Adults with SARS-CoV-2: a Retrospective Cohort Study.Shock (Augusta, Ga.) · 2026Article
- Remdesivir: Real-World Effectiveness and Safety in Individuals Hospitalized for Non-COVID Reasons and Non-Hospitalized High-Risk Patients During the Omicron Era in Greece.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Differences in the Clinical Course of COVID-19 in Patients Hospitalized in the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 Seasons.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Deaths "due to" COVID-19 and deaths "with" COVID-19 during the Omicron variant surge, among hospitalized patients in seven tertiary-care hospitals, Athens, Greece.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Outcomes for people experiencing homelessness with COVID-19 presenting to emergency departments in Canada, compared with housed patients.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2025Article
- Article
- What Lessons can Be Learned From the Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic?International journal of public health · 2025Review
- Misattribution Bias of COVID-19 Hospitalizations in Alberta Using an Admission Algorithm.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2024Article
- Re-thinking all-cause COVID-19 hospitalizations as a surrogate measure for severe illness in observational surveillance studies.Scientific reports · 2024Observational
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
20 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionNot all patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection develop symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), making it challenging to assess the burden of COVID-19-related hospitalizations and mortality. We aimed to determine the proportion, resource utilization, and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients admitted for COVID-19, and assess the impact of using the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) discharge diagnosis-based algorithm and the Massachusetts state department's drug administration-based classification system on identifying admissions for COVID-19.
methodsIn this retrospective cohort study, we enrolled consecutive SARS-CoV-2 positive patients admitted to one of five hospitals in British Columbia between December 19, 2021 and May 31,2022. We completed medical record reviews, and classified hospitalizations as being primarily for COVID-19 or with incidental SARS-CoV-2 infection. We applied the CDC algorithm and the Massachusetts classification to estimate the difference in hospital days, intensive care unit (ICU) days and in-hospital mortality and calculated sensitivity and specificity.
resultsOf 42,505 Emergency Department patients, 1,651 were admitted and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, with 858 (52.0%, 95% CI 49.6-54.4) admitted for COVID-19. Patients hospitalized for COVID-19 required ICU admission (14.0% versus 8.2%, p<0.001) and died (12.6% versus 6.4%, p<0.001) more frequently compared with patients with incidental SARS-CoV-2. Compared to case classification by clinicians, the CDC algorithm had a sensitivity of 82.9% (711/858, 95% CI 80.3%, 85.4%) and specificity of 98.1% (778/793, 95% CI 97.2%, 99.1%) for COVID-19-related admissions and underestimated COVID-19 attributable hospital days. The Massachusetts classification had a sensitivity of 60.5% (519/858, 95% CI 57.2%, 63.8%) and specificity of 78.6% (623/793, 95% CI 75.7%, 81.4%) for COVID-19-related admissions, underestimating total number of hospital and ICU bed days while overestimating COVID-19-related intubations, ICU admissions, and deaths.
conclusionHalf of SARS-CoV-2 hospitalizations were for COVID-19 during the Omicron wave. The CDC algorithm was more specific and sensitive than the Massachusetts classification, but underestimated the burden of COVID-19 admissions.
trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT04702945.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.