This systematic review of 16 studies (7,706 patients) assessed the diagnostic accuracy of signs and symptoms to determine if a patient presenting to a primary care or hospital setting has COVID-19. The authors identified data on 27 different signs and symptoms, but the individual signs and symptoms appear to have very poor diagnostic accuracy. The authors conclude that based on currently available data, neither the absence nor presence of signs or symptoms are accurate enough to rule a COVID-19 diagnosis in or out.

… BMJ Open … Diagnostic errors are a common preventable cause of medical errors and, thus, are … and explanation of each of the 30 checklist items. … Cohen JF,  Korevaar DA, Altman DG, et al. STARD 2015 guidelines for …

… BMJ open … BMJ Open … Detection of safety hazards remains a challenge. This systematic review examined record review as a way to identify adverse events. Consistency of event … authors recommend formal validation of record review as a method to detect adverse events. …

… with 487 studies of test evaluation. Study design (e.g., retrospective, prospective) greatly impacted estimated … considering design when conducting studies. … Rutjes AW,   Reitsma JB, Di Nisio M, et al. Evidence of bias and variation …