Could the Emergency Department Facilitate the Start of a Holistic Follow-Up Pathway for Patients Recovering from COVID-19?

BACKGROUND: For many patients suffering from COVID-19, Emergency Departments (ED) facilitate the first contact with clinicians. There is a high rate of psychiatric symptoms in COVID-19 survivors, including anxiety, depression, fatigue and sleep disturbance, which persist months after the acute phase. AIMS: To investigate if COVID-19 patients discharged from ED have a higher prevalence of mental health symptoms than those admitted. In addition, this study will investigate if discharged ED patients who now require COVID-19 follow-up with the respiratory team had a higher prevalence of mental health symptoms than admitted patients requiring follow-up. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study (n = 472) with the PHQ2 and GAD-2 scoring systems to quantify current anxiety and depression symptoms via a telephone consultation. RESULTS: The PHQ-2 and GAD-2 scores were significantly higher for discharged ED patients than the admitted patients. There was a higher proportion of females with a positive PHQ2 or GAD-2 score. Of the patients requiring respiratory follow-up, discharged ED patients were more likely to have a positive PHQ-2 or GAD-2 score than those admitted. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should maintain a low threshold for referring patients with psychiatric complaints post-COVID alongside respiratory symptoms irrespective of admission. It is imperative that available psychological services, crisis lines and other avenues of support post-COVID-19 are signposted to patients before discharge to facilitate earlier intervention.