Acute respiratory infection rates in primary care anticipate ICU bed occupancy during COVID-19 waves.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bed occupancy in the ICU is a major constraint to in-patient care during COVID-19 pandemic. Diagnoses of acute respiratory infection (ARI) by general practitioners have not previously been investigated as an early warning indicator of ICU occupancy.

Methods

A population-based central health care system registry in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, was used to analyze all diagnoses of ARI related to COVID-19 established by general practitioners and the number of occupied ICU beds in all hospitals from Catalonia between March 26, 2020 and January 20, 2021. The primary outcome was the cross-correlation between the series of COVID-19-related ARI cases and ICU bed occupancy taking into account the effect of bank holidays and weekends. Recalculations were la

SUBMITTER: Guillen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9067638 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature