TY - JOUR
T1 - Symptom presentation of SARS-CoV-2-positive and negative patients
T2 - a nested case-control study among patients calling the emergency medical service and medical helpline
AU - Moeller, Amalie Lykkemark
AU - Mills, Elisabeth Helen Anna
AU - Collatz Christensen, Helle
AU - Gnesin, Filip
AU - Blomberg, Stig Nikolaj Fasmer Nikolaj
AU - Zylyftari, Nertila
AU - Jensen, Britta
AU - Ringgren, Kristian Bundgaard
AU - Broccia, Marcella Ditte
AU - Bøggild, Henrik
AU - Torp-Pedersen, Christian
N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2021/5/24
Y1 - 2021/5/24
N2 - OBJECTIVE: Currently effective symptom-based screening of patients suspected of COVID-19 is limited. We aimed to investigate age-related differences in symptom presentations of patients tested positive and negative for SARS-CoV-2.DESIGN: SETTING: Calls to the medical helpline (1-8-1-3) and emergency number (1-1-2) in Copenhagen, Denmark. At both medical services all calls are recorded.PARTICIPANTS: We included calls for patients who called for help/guidance at the medical helpline or emergency number prior to receiving a test for SARS-CoV-2 between April 1st and 20th 2020 (8423 patients). Among these calls, we randomly sampled recorded calls from 350 patients who later tested positive and 250 patients tested negative and registered symptoms described in the call.OUTCOME: RESULTS: After exclusions, 544 calls (312 SARS-CoV-2 positive and 232 negative) were included in the analysis. Fever and cough remained the two most common of COVID-19 symptoms across all age groups and approximately 42% of SARS-CoV-2 positive and 20% of negative presented with both fever and cough. Symptoms including nasal congestion, irritation/pain in throat, muscle/joint pain, loss of taste and smell, and headache were common symptoms of COVID-19 for patients younger than 60 years; whereas loss of appetite and feeling unwell were more commonly seen among patients over 60 years. Headache and loss of taste and smell were rare symptoms of COVID-19 among patients over 60 years.CONCLUSION: Our study identified age-related differences in symptom presentations of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients calling for help or medical advice. The specific symptoms of loss of smell or taste almost exclusively reported by patients younger than 60 years. Differences in symptom presentation across age groups must be considered when screening for COVID-19.
AB - OBJECTIVE: Currently effective symptom-based screening of patients suspected of COVID-19 is limited. We aimed to investigate age-related differences in symptom presentations of patients tested positive and negative for SARS-CoV-2.DESIGN: SETTING: Calls to the medical helpline (1-8-1-3) and emergency number (1-1-2) in Copenhagen, Denmark. At both medical services all calls are recorded.PARTICIPANTS: We included calls for patients who called for help/guidance at the medical helpline or emergency number prior to receiving a test for SARS-CoV-2 between April 1st and 20th 2020 (8423 patients). Among these calls, we randomly sampled recorded calls from 350 patients who later tested positive and 250 patients tested negative and registered symptoms described in the call.OUTCOME: RESULTS: After exclusions, 544 calls (312 SARS-CoV-2 positive and 232 negative) were included in the analysis. Fever and cough remained the two most common of COVID-19 symptoms across all age groups and approximately 42% of SARS-CoV-2 positive and 20% of negative presented with both fever and cough. Symptoms including nasal congestion, irritation/pain in throat, muscle/joint pain, loss of taste and smell, and headache were common symptoms of COVID-19 for patients younger than 60 years; whereas loss of appetite and feeling unwell were more commonly seen among patients over 60 years. Headache and loss of taste and smell were rare symptoms of COVID-19 among patients over 60 years.CONCLUSION: Our study identified age-related differences in symptom presentations of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients calling for help or medical advice. The specific symptoms of loss of smell or taste almost exclusively reported by patients younger than 60 years. Differences in symptom presentation across age groups must be considered when screening for COVID-19.
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044208
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044208
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34031110
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 11
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 5
M1 - e044208
ER -