The Association Between Emergency Severity Index Triage Score and Clinical Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19

Taherpour, Farshad; Toulabi, Tahereh; Heidarizadeh, Khadijeh; Mohammadi, Rasool; Zavari, Tabasom

doi:10.22087/ijac.2022.462111.1012

The Association Between Emergency Severity Index Triage Score and Clinical Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19

Document Type : Research

Authors

Farshad Taherpour ¹

Tahereh Toulabi ²

Khadijeh Heidarizadeh ³

Rasool Mohammadi ⁴

Tabasom Zavari ⁵

¹ Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

² Cardiovascular Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.

³ Cardiovascular Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

⁴ Nutritional Health Research Center, School of Health and Nutrition, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

⁵ Hepatitis of Research Center, School of Medicine, Shahid Rahimi Hospital, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

10.22087/ijac.2022.462111.1012

Abstract

Correct, accurate, and organized triage is one of the key factors in rapidly categorizing COVID-19 patients. Further research on the triage outcomes and prioritization of limited resources seems necessary. Therefore, the present study was performed to determine the relationship between the triage with the ESI and the outcomes of COVID-19 patients. This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 1046 records of patient with COVID-19, in March 2019 and 2020.The highest and lowest frequency of triage was related to level 3 (54.2%) and level 1 (6.3%) triage, respectively. The Spo2 level in more than half of the patients (56.6%) was less than 93%. The maximum mortality rate (95.5%) was observed in patients with level 1 triage. Also, patients with levels 1 and 3 triage required intubation, and there was a statistically significant relationship between the triage level, the SpO2 level, and the intubation rate (p <0.001). The present study's results showed a correlation between the triage level and the variables of age, SpO2 level, intubation, and disease outcome. The findings can be used to create an accurate and efficient triage system for similar pandemics.

Keywords

Triage

Emergency Severity Index (ESI)

Clinical Outcomes

COVID-19

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