Risk Factors of Readmission of COVID-19 Patients Undergoing Remote Home Monitoring in Virtual Wards: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Patients with COVID-19 were admitted to a virtual ward (VW) for remote oximetry monitoring from the Emergency Department (ED), step down from inpatient wards and from the local primary care “Hot Hub”. To identify risk factors associated with 14-day readmission in COVID-19 patients, statistical analysis was performed to compare patients between the readmission group and the non-readmission group. A total of 356 patients were included in this study. Lower blood oxygen saturation in the first two days within the VW, referred from ED or inpatient wards, fewer days since symptom onset, and white cell count was associated with increased readmission risk. Our results indicate that blood oxygen saturation played a key role in determining clinical deterioration in COVID-19 patients, and other adjusting factors exist. This could be expanded to other pathways of VW and patients with other conditions to assess their clinical deterioration within the monitoring period in VW.