Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the accuracy of telephone triage of callers with shortness of breath and/or chest discomfort in Dutch out-of-hours primary care: A retrospective observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Anecdotal reports suggest that missed diagnosis in general practice during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a drop in life-threatening events (LTEs) detected in hospitals.

Objectives

To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the accuracy of urgency allocation by telephone triage of patients with shortness of breath and/or chest discomfort in out-of-hours primary care (OHS-PC). Accuracy is defined as the correct allocation of high urgency to patients with LTEs and low urgency to those without.

Methods

Retrospective observational study with data from callers contacting OHS-PC for shortness of breath and/or chest discomfort, between 1 March and 1 June 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 1 March to 1 June 2020 (first wave COVID-19 pandemic

SUBMITTER: Spek M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11610253 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature