PMID- 35722413
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20220830
IS  - 2305-5839 (Print)
IS  - 2305-5847 (Electronic)
IS  - 2305-5839 (Linking)
VI  - 10
IP  - 10
DP  - 2022 May
TI  - Clinical characteristics of fever clinic visits during the coronavirus disease 
      2019 pandemic: a retrospective case-control study.
PG  - 574
LID - 10.21037/atm-22-1620 [doi]
LID - 574
AB  - BACKGROUND: Little is known about the change in characteristics of fever-clinic 
      visits during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We sought to 
      examine the changes in the volume, characteristics, and outcomes of patients 
      presenting at a fever clinic duringclinic during the first-level response to 
      COVID-19. METHODS: We conducted a single tertiary-center retrospective 
      case-control study. We included consecutive patients aged 14 years or older who 
      visited the fever clinic of a tertiary hospital during the period of the 
      first-level response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Fuzhou, China (from 24 January 
      to 26 February 2020). We also analyzed the data of patients in the same period of 
      2019 as a control. We compared a number of outcome measures, including the fever 
      clinic volumes, consultation length, proportion of patients with pneumonia, 
      hospital admission rate, and in-hospital mortality, using the fever-clinic visit 
      data during the two periods. RESULTS: We included 1,013 participants [median age: 
      35; interquartile range (IQR): 27-50, 48.7% male] in this retrospective study, 
      including 707 in 2020 and 306 in 2019. The median daily number of participants 
      who presented at the fever clinic in 2020 was significantly higher than that in 
      2019 [18 (IQR: 15-22) vs. 13 (IQR: 8-17), P=0.001]. Participants in 2020 had a 
      longer consultation length than those in 2019 [127 (IQR: 51-204) vs. 20 (IQR: 
      1-60) min, P<0.001]. Participants in 2020 were also more likely to be diagnosed 
      with acute pneumonia than those in 2019 [168 (23.8%) vs. 40 (13.1%), P<0.001]. 
      The hospital admission rate in 2020 was higher than in 2019 [73 (10.3%) vs. 13 
      (4.2%), P=0.001]. No significant difference was found in terms of the in-hospital 
      mortality of participants in 2020 and 2019 [8 (1.1%) vs. 0, P=0.114]. 
      CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a higher visits volume, proportion of acute 
      pneumonia, and hospital admission rate among patients presenting at fever clinic 
      during the COVID-19 pandemic. Improved measures need to be implemented.
CI  - 2022 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.
FAU - Huang, Jieping
AU  - Huang J
AD  - Department of Emergency, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
FAU - Weng, Jinsen
AU  - Weng J
AD  - Department of Critical Care Medicine, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital 
      and Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
FAU - Yu, Wei
AU  - Yu W
AD  - Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital and 
      Fujian Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
FAU - Wu, Wenwei
AU  - Wu W
AD  - Department of Emergency, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
FAU - Xu, Rongchun
AU  - Xu R
AD  - Department of Emergency, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
FAU - Li, Chen
AU  - Li C
AD  - Department of Infectious Disease, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, 
      Fuzhou, China.
FAU - Liu, Qing
AU  - Liu Q
AD  - Department of Emergency, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
FAU - Du, Houwei
AU  - Du H
AD  - Department of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - China
TA  - Ann Transl Med
JT  - Annals of translational medicine
JID - 101617978
PMC - PMC9201161
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
OT  - consultation duration
OT  - fever clinic
OT  - pandemic
OT  - public health
COIS- Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure 
      form (available at 
      https://atm.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/atm-22-1620/coif). The authors 
      have no conflicts of interest to declare.
EDAT- 2022/06/21 06:00
MHDA- 2022/06/21 06:01
PMCR- 2022/05/01
CRDT- 2022/06/20 04:07
PHST- 2022/03/08 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2022/05/10 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2022/06/20 04:07 [entrez]
PHST- 2022/06/21 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2022/06/21 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2022/05/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - atm-10-10-574 [pii]
AID - 10.21037/atm-22-1620 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Ann Transl Med. 2022 May;10(10):574. doi: 10.21037/atm-22-1620.