Prevalence and risk factors associated with repeat positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test results among discharged COVID-19 patients: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic continues to have an immense impact on the world at large. COVID-19 patients who meet the discharge criteria, may subsequently exhibit positive viral RNA test results upon subsequent evaluation. This phenomenon has been a major source of research and public health interest, and poses a major challenge to COVID-19 prevention, treatment, and standardized patient management. METHODS: We will search the PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Clinical Trials Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese Science Journal Database, and China Biology Medicine databases for all studies published as of November 2021. Data will be extracted independently by two researchers according to the eligibility criteria. Finally, RevMan 5.3.0 will be implemented for statistical analyses. RESULTS: The results of this study will show the prevalence and risk factors associated with repeat positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test results among discharged COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study will provide a reliable evidence-based for the prevalence and risk factors associated with repeat positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test results among discharged COVID-19 patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021272447.