Demographic and clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients admitted to a university hospital in the west of Iran: a retrospective study in the third wave

Background

COVID-19 is a disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The characteristics of this infectious disease vary from a country to another and from one peak to the next. The aim of the present study was to describe the COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Kermanshah, a city in the west of Iran, in the third peak of the disease and to identify in-hospital mortality determinants in this disease.

Methods

In this retrospective study, the clinical and demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, prescribed treatments and outcome of all COVID-19 patients (definitive, suspected, and probable) were collected from the medical records department of Farabi Hospital affiliated with Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran from 22 October to 20 November 2020.

Results

In total, 665 COVID-19 patients (265 females and 400 males, mean age: 58.7 years) were enrolled, including 479 confirmed (72%), 156 probable (23.5%), and 30 suspected cases (4.5%). About 84% of the patients presented with low oxygen saturation levels. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (15%), diabetes (10%), and cardiovascular disease (3%). The median (IQR) length of hospital stay was 6 (4–8) and 7 (2–14) day in discharged and deceased patients, respectively. Eighty-two out of 655 patients admitted to the hospital and 39 of the 60 patients admitted to the ICU died. In total, in-hospital mortality rate was 12.33%. Regarding lab variables, in the adjusted model, no significant difference was observed between discharged and deceased patients.The results of multivariable logistic regression showed that each one-unit increase in oxygen saturation (SPO₂) increased the odds of survival by 0.88 times (95% CI 0.78–0.99, p = 0.043). Moreover, each one-day increase in the length of ICU stay reduced the odds of mortality by 0.49 times (95% CI 0.26–0.95, p = 0.035).

Conclusion

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients were generally more ill during the third peak so that about 85% of the patients had SPO₂ < 93%. The in-hospital mortality rate was also high. Demographic and paraclinical variables (except SPO₂ level) were not suitable predictors of mortality.