The Self-Report Symptoms of COVID-19 in Iranian Population Through a Teleconsultation-Based Service

COVID-19 has affected a worldwide population, causing more than a million deaths from the end of 2019 until now; so the aim of this study was to determine the symptoms of COVID-19 in the Iranian population through a teleconsultation-based service to better deal with it.

This study was a cross-sectional study that included 12125 individuals calling for COVID-19 screening and consultation from 2 March 2020 to 19 April 2020 with the census method. A telephone number was assigned for consultation with more than 70 nurses responding to first-level questions and more than 30 medical doctors responding to second-level questions. For statistical analysis, a chi-squared test and univariate logistic regression with SPSS 25 were used.

Cough was the most common complaint (41.3%), followed by shortness of breath (32.8%), and fever (31.5%). Confusion was the least common complaint (1.6%). Binary logistic regression revealed that men were at a higher risk of COVID-19 compared to women (OR:1.31, 95% CI 1.10-1.55, p=0.002). In addition, older age was a risk factor for COVID-19 (OR:1.02, 95% CI 1.02-1.03, p<0.001). Also, significant positive correlations were found between fever, chills, sore throat, shortness of breath, cough, body ache, and gastrointestinal symptoms with COVID-19 even after adjustment for gender and age.

Fever, cough, and shortness of breath were the most common complaints in individuals calling for COVID-19 teleconsultation. It’s suggested that in times of crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, remote sensing can be done to raise public awareness and break the transmission chain.