Risk factors for later hospitalization of patients discharged from an emergency department with nonsevere COVID-19 symptoms.

Hernández-Biette, Agnes; Sanz-Santos, José; Boix-Palop, Lucía; Navarro Rolón, Annie; Martínez-Palau, Mireia; de la Sierra Iserte, Alejandro

OBJECTIVES To describe the clinical course of patients discharged from the emergency department (ED) with nonsevere coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and explore possible risk factors for later hospitalization. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients with nonsevere COVID-19 who were discharged from the ED were included prospectively. We explored risk factors for hospitalization after discharge. RESULTS Seventy-four patients were included; 17 (23%) were hospitalized after discharge. Three (4%) of the 17 patients died. Age, lymphopenia, a high Charlson Comorbidity Index, and a shorter delay between the onset of symptoms and the first visit to the ED were associated with hospitalization afterwards, although on multivariate analysis only time less than 6 days between symptom onset and the first ED visit was associated with later hospitalization (odds ratio, 4.62; 95% CI, 1.08-19.7). CONCLUSION More than 20% of ED patients with nonsevere COVID-19 require hospitalization later.