scholarly journals False-negative RT-PCR for COVID-19 and a diagnostic risk score: a retrospective cohort study among patients admitted to hospital

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e047110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankur Gupta-Wright ◽  
Colin Kenneth Macleod ◽  
Jessica Barrett ◽  
Sarah Ann Filson ◽  
Tumena Corrah ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 and false-negative SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), and develop and internally validate a diagnostic risk score to predict risk of COVID-19 (including RT-PCR-negative COVID-19) among medical admissions.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingTwo hospitals within an acute NHS Trust in London, UK.ParticipantsAll patients admitted to medical wards between 2 March and 3 May 2020.OutcomesMain outcomes were diagnosis of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR results, sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR and mortality during hospital admission. For the diagnostic risk score, we report discrimination, calibration and diagnostic accuracy of the model and simplified risk score and internal validation.Results4008 patients were admitted between 2 March and 3 May 2020. 1792 patients (44.8%) were diagnosed with COVID-19, of whom 1391 were SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive and 283 had only negative RT-PCRs. Compared with a clinical reference standard, sensitivity of RT-PCR in hospital patients was 83.1% (95% CI 81.2%–84.8%). Broadly, patients with false-negative RT-PCR COVID-19 and those confirmed by positive PCR had similar demographic and clinical characteristics but lower risk of intensive care unit admission and lower in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.27–0.61). A simple diagnostic risk score comprising of age, sex, ethnicity, cough, fever or shortness of breath, National Early Warning Score 2, C reactive protein and chest radiograph appearance had moderate discrimination (area under the receiver–operator curve 0.83, 95% CI 0.82 to 0.85), good calibration and was internally validated.ConclusionRT-PCR-negative COVID-19 is common and is associated with lower mortality despite similar presentation. Diagnostic risk scores could potentially help triage patients requiring admission but need external validation.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. e0211133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anniek Brink ◽  
Jelmer Alsma ◽  
Rob Johannes Carel Gerardus Verdonschot ◽  
Pleunie Petronella Marie Rood ◽  
Robert Zietse ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice I. Mowbray ◽  
Aaron Jones ◽  
Connie Schumacher ◽  
John Hirdes ◽  
Andrew P. Costa

Abstract Background The Detection of Indicators and Vulnerabilities of Emergency Room Trips (DIVERT) scale was developed to classify and estimate the risk of emergency department (ED) use among home care clients. The objective of this study was to externally validate the DIVERT scale in a secondary population of home care clients. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study, linking data from the Home Care Reporting System and the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System. Data were collected on older long-stay home care clients who received a RAI Home Care (RAI-HC) assessment. Data were collected for home care clients in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Alberta, as well as in the cities of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Whitehorse, Yukon Territories between April 1, 2011 and September 30, 2014. The DIVERT scale was originally derived from the items of the RAI-HC through the use of recursive partitioning informed by a multinational clinical panel. This scale is currently implemented alongside the RAI-HC in provinces across Canada. The primary outcome of this study was ED visitation within 6 months of a RAI-HC assessment. Results The cohort contained 1,001,133 home care clients. The vast majority of cases received services in Ontario (88%), followed by Alberta (8%), Winnipeg (4%), and Whitehorse (< 1%). Across the four cohorts, the DIVERT scale demonstrated similar discriminative ability to the original validation work for all outcomes during the six-month follow-up: ED visitation (AUC = 0.617–0.647), two or more ED visits (AUC = 0.628–0.634) and hospital admission (AUC = 0.617–0.664). Conclusions The findings of this study support the external validity of the DIVERT scale. More specifically, the predictive accuracy of the DIVERT scale from the original work was similar to the accuracy demonstrated within a new cohort, created from different geographical regions and time periods.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. e052609
Author(s):  
Jianbo Shao ◽  
Hong Xu ◽  
Zhixi Liu ◽  
Xiaohua Ying ◽  
Hua Xu ◽  
...  

ObjectiveThis study aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical features and potential factors related to the time to return negative reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR in discharged paediatric patients with COVID-19.DesignRetrospective cohort study.SettingUnscheduled admissions to 12 tertiary hospitals in China.ParticipantsTwo hundred and thirty-three clinical charts of paediatric patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted from 1 January 2020 to 17 April 2020.Primary and secondary outcome measuresPrimary outcome measures: factors associated with the time to return negative RT-PCR from COVID-19 in paediatric patients. Secondary outcome measures: epidemiological and clinical features and laboratory results in paediatric patients.ResultsThe median age of patients in our cohort was 7.50 (IQR: 2.92–12.17) years, and 133 (57.1%) patients were male. 42 (18.0%) patients were evaluated as asymptomatic, while 162 (69.5%) and 25 (10.7%) patients were classified as mild or moderate, respectively. In Cox regression analysis, longer time to negative RT-PCR was associated with the presence of confirmed infection in family members (HR (95% CI): 0.56 (0.41 to 0.79)). Paediatric patients with emesis symptom had a longer time to return negative (HR (95% CI): 0.33 (0.14 to 0.78)). During hospitalisation, the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and antiviral drugs at the same time is less conducive to return negative than antiviral drugs alone (HR (95% CI): 0.85 (0.64 to 1.13)).ConclusionsThe mode of transmission might be a critical factor determining the disease severity of COVID-19. Patients with emesis symptom, complications or confirmed infection in family members may have longer healing time than others. However, there were no significant favourable effects from TCM when the patients have received antiviral treatment.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Immanuel Mowbray ◽  
Aaron Jones ◽  
Connie Schumacher ◽  
John Hirdes ◽  
Andrew Paul Costa

Abstract Background: The Detection of Indicators and Vulnerabilities of Emergency Room Trips (DIVERT) scale was developed to classify and estimate the risk of emergency department (ED) use in home care clients. The objective of this study was to externally validate the DIVERT scale in a secondary population of home care clients.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study, linking data from the Home Care Reporting System and the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System. Data were collected on older long-stay home care clients who received a RAI Home Care (RAI-HC) assessment. Data were collected for home care clients in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Alberta, as well as in the cities of Winnipeg, Manitoba and Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, between April 1, 2011 and September 30, 2014. The DIVERT Scale was originally derived from the items of the RAI-HC through the use of recursive partitioning informed by a multinational clinical panel. This scale is currently implemented alongside the RAI-HC in provinces across Canada. The primary outcome of this study was an ED visit within six months of a RAI-HC assessment.Results: The cohort contained 1,001,133 home care clients. The vast majority of cases received services in Ontario (88%), followed by Alberta (8%), Winnipeg (4%), and Whitehorse (<1%). Across the four cohorts, the DIVERT scale demonstrated similar discriminative ability to the original validation work for all outcomes during the six-month follow-up: ED visitation (AUC =0.617-0.647), two or more ED visits (AUC = 0.628-0.634), and hospital admission (AUC = 0.617-0.664).Conclusions: The findings of this study support the external validity of the DIVERT scale. More specifically, the predictive accuracy of the DIVERT scale from the original work was similar to the accuracy demonstrated within a new cohort, created from different geographical regions and time periods.


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