Association of symptoms and comorbidities with hospitalization among patients infected with coronavirus disease : A cross-sectional study among users of Universitas Sumatera Utara's COVID-19 Telemedicine.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and was declared by the World Health Organization as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. However, COVID-19 will continue to occur in the future. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the factors that affect the risk of hospitalisation of patients infected with COVID-19 so that preventive measures can be taken promptly.

Methods: This study adopted a descriptive, analytic, cross-sectional research design. The sample included the people of North Sumatra who used Universitas Sumatera Utara's COVID-19 Telemedicine and met the research criteria. The data were analysed using the chi-square test, with odds ratios (ORs) calculated.

Results: Among the clinical symptoms of the patients, runny nose (OR=10.9), sore throat (OR=23.5), muscle pain (OR=24.3), headache (OR=33.7), diarrhoea (OR=7.7), nausea (OR=10.6), vomiting (OR=4.4), ageusia (OR=6.3) and anosmia (OR=5.5) were more commonly associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation. Among the comorbidities, hypertension (OR=2.5) and diabetes (OR=4.9) increased the risk of hospitalisation.

Conclusion: Runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, ageusia, anosmia, diabetes and hypertension are associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation among patients with COVID-19.