EARLIEST SYMPTOMS OF PRESENTATION IN COVID-19 PATIENTS IN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Objective: To determine the frequency of earliest symptoms of COVID-19 infection among patients with confirmed SARSCOVID-19 infection. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Multan, from Jun to Dec 2021. Methodology: Data from 299 patients admitted in tertiary care settings was collected on a questionnaire. Patients regardless of gender and age who had confirmed COVID-19 infection through Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) were included in the study. A nonprobability consecutive sampling technique was used to select samples. Data was entered and analyzed through SPSS version 22. Frequencies and percentages of various presenting symptoms were calculated. Sample size calculated at 95% level of confidence, 1% required precision, and 27% anticipated population proportion were 299. The overall difference in frequencies of symptoms in various groups was compared by using chi-square test. p-value <0.05 was taken as significant. Results: A total of 299 participants were included in this analysis. The median age for participants (interquartile range [IQR]) was 46 (36-54) years. Among 299 adults the reported symptoms were cough 238 (79.6%), fever 176 (58.7%) and, dyspnea 113 (37.8%). Only 78 (26.1%) of participants with confirmed infection reported having all three symptoms of cough, fever, and dyspnea. Other reported symptoms in patients were diarrhea 54 (18.1%), fatigue 128 (42.8%), myalgia 113 (37.8%), and anosmia 98 (32.8%). There was no significant difference in the frequency of symptoms across both genders. Conclusion: The most frequent symptoms of COVID-19 are cough, fever, and dyspnea.