Assessment of COVID-19 in primary care: the identification of symptoms, signs, characteristics, comorbidities and clinical signs in adults, children and young people, which may indicate a higher risk of progression to severe disease : evidence review

Assessment of COVID-19 in primary care: the identification of symptoms, signs, characteristics, comorbidities and clinical signs in adults, children and young people, which may indicate a higher risk of progression to severe disease : evidence review

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Series Title(s):
SIGN publication
Contributor(s):
Healthcare Improvement Scotland, issuing body.
University of Glasgow, issuing body.
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, issuing body.
Publication:
[Edinburgh, Scotland] : Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), February 3, 2021
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
COVID-19 -- complications
Disease Progression
Patient Acuity
Primary Health Care
Prognosis
Adult
Child
Young Adult
Scotland
Genre(s):
Practice Guideline
Technical Report
Abstract:
The purpose of this rapid review is to provide NHSScotland with advice on assessment of patients with acute COVID-19 in primary care. The review does not address the management of long-term effects of COVID-19. This guidance is for: general practitioners and primary care teams involved in the assessment of patients presenting with potential COVID-19. Since the outbreak of coronavirus, there has been an abundance of rapid and systematic reviews published on the diagnosis and management of people with symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), known as COVID-19, mostly from a secondary care (hospital) perspective. About 80% of people with COVID-19 have symptoms which have been described as mild (no pneumonia manifestations/hospitalisation) or asymptomatic. Others develop severe disease (defined as requiring admission to an intensive care unit (ICU)). The challenge for primary care practitioners is to identify and triage patients presenting with potential COVID-19, a disease in which the pattern and duration of symptoms is heterogeneous. This is compounded by the need to conduct consultations by telephone or video. In addition, the evidence base is not robust and is subject to change as new evidence emerges. The COVID-19 Scottish Primary Care Hub Triage Guide lists the common symptoms, and provides red flags for those requiring immediate assessment and yellow flags for those at a higher risk of deterioration (eg certain comorbidities). We conducted a search for new evidence on prognostic indicators, risk factors and clinical measures to identify people self-managing symptoms of COVID-19 in the community whose symptoms may change or worsen, and therefore may require monitoring or clinical intervention after their initial presentation to primary care. The research question and methodology can be found in section 8. At the time of update (February 2021), there are several new variants of SARS-CoV-2 which are being investigated for their potential increased transmissibility. It is currently unclear if these variants have any impact on the severity of disease and there has been no evidence which explores the impact of individual variants on disease severity or risk factors.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (37 pages))
Edition:
Version number 3
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
9918334379806676 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918334379806676