Demir, Mehmet CihatIlhan, Bugra2021-12-012021-12-0120211516-3180https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2020.0649.R1.10122020https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12684/10645BACKGROUND: Healthcare institutions are confronted with large numbers of patient admissions during large-scale or long-term public health emergencies like pandemics. Appropriate and effective triage is needed for effective resource use. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Pandemic Medical Early Warning Score (PMEWS), Simple Triage Scoring System (STSS) and Confusion, Uremia, Respiratory rate, Blood pressure and age >= 65 years (CURB-65) score in an emergency department (ED) triage setting. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective study in the ED of a tertiary-care university hospital in Duzce, Turkey. METHODS: PMEWS, STSS and CURB-65 scores of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia were calculated. Thirty-day mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation (MV) need and outcomes were recorded. The predictive accuracy of the scores was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: One hundred patients with COVID-19 pneumonia were included. The 30-day mortality was 6%. PMEWS, STSS and CURB-65 showed high performance for predicting 30-day mortality (area under the curve: 0.968, 0.962 and 0.942, respectively). Age > 65 years, respiratory rate > 20/minute, oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) < 90% and ED length of stay > 4 hours showed associations with 30-day mortality (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CURB-65, STSS and PMEWS scores are useful for predicting mortality, ICU admission and MV need among patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia. Advanced age, increased respiratory rate, low SpO(2) and prolonged ED length of stay may increase mortality. Further studies are needed for developing the triage scoring systems, to ensure effective long-term use of healthcare service capacity during pandemics.en10.1590/1516-3180.2020.0649.R1.10122020info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessCOVID-19 [supplementary concept]Emergency service, hospitalPandemicsPneumoniaTriageArticle1392170177336818852-s2.0-85104048215WOS:000637319500011Q3Q3