Evaluation of Clinical Follow-Up of The Patients Monitored at Home Due To COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Aim: The most valuable approach to prevent the spread of the novel COVID-19, which is a pandemic today, is to detect, isolate, and treat patients. The majority of patients are mild or asymptomatic cases. These cases are followed up and isolated at home in many countries. With a governmental decision issued in Turkey, it has been deemed appropriate to follow up the suspected, contact or definitive diagnosis patients who do not indicate inpatient treatment, have a mild clinical course, or do not have a risk factor that may lead to a severe course of COVID-19, at home by the family practice units. In this study, we aimed to investigate the characteristics of the patients with COVID-19 who were being monitored at home. Methods: The study was designed as a retrospective cross-sectional observational study. In this study, 321 people who were registered at the Education and Family Health Centers of our hospital and followed up as COVID-19 suspects, contacts, or definitive cases were identified. Home follow-up data of these patients between April 1-30 were obtained retrospectively from the records of family health centers. Data, such as the presence and course of symptoms of people followed at home, their isolation status, medicine usage status, and test results were recorded electronically for further analysis. Results: In this study, 321 patients, 163 (50.28%) males, and 158 (49.22%) females were included. Among 321 patients, 287 (89.41%) were contact patients, 54 (16.82%) were suspected patients, and 28 (8.72%) had a definitive diagnosis. The mean age of the patients was 40.00±20.68. Among the patients included in this study, 27 (8.41%) were hospitalized, symptoms worsened in 8 (2.49%), 5 (1.56%) were re-applied to the hospital, 5 (1.56%) were re-hospitalized, and 28 people (8.72%) were administered medication. Conclusion: The mean age of patients who complied with the measures of isolation was higher than patients who did not. The mean age of hospitalized patients was higher than in non-hospitalized patients. The frequency of observed symptoms was consistent with the previous studies in the literature. Keywords: cough, fever, pandemics, quarantine, SARS-CoV-2