The Epidemiological Characteristics of COVID-19 Patients at Hospitals Affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: The widespread prevalence of Covid-19 in the world has become to the health crisis and in certain groups, it leads to severe illness and even death. Therefore it is of utmost importance to identify populations with an elevated risk for COVID-19 and the factors influencing its outcomes. The present study aimed to investigate the Epidemiological Characteristics of COVID-19 disease, factors affecting mortality and length of stay (LOS) among COVID-19 patients in the hospitals of East Azerbaijan province, Iran, during 15 months of this pandemic. Method: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on patients admitted to the hospitals that PCR sample taken from the oropharynx or nasopharynx had a positive result, from February 21, 2020, to April 11, 2021. In total 24,293 patients were included in the study. To investigate factors affecting the mortality of patients from logistic regression and after logarithmic transformation, multiple linear regression was used to investigate the factors affecting the length of stay (LOS) in hospital. Results: The mean age of inpatients was 54.0 ± 19.4 years. 3663 patients died (15.7%), whose mean age was 69.0 ± 14.6 years and significantly higher than the recovered ones (P < 0.001). case fatality rate was 16.08% in men and 13.99% in women. In the third wave of the disease, a higher proportion of inpatients died. Factors, such as above 50 years of age (P < 0.001), male gender (OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.08-1.26), and having chronic diseases (OR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.22-1.42), were correlated with patient mortality. In addition, having chronic diseases (Beta = 0.06; 95% CI: 0.03-0.08) was associated with higher LOS in hospitals. Conclusion: In conclusion, whit the increase in the number of patients and the occurrence of a wave of disease, higher proportion of inpatients died. Older patients were at a higher risk of mortality and prolonged hospitalization. Also, men had a higher chance of dying from the disease than women, and the fatality rate is higher in men. Furthermore, patients underlying diseases could cause a severe form of COVID-19, which can lead to death and increase patients LOS. Therefore, it is suggested that policies should be made in such a way that the elderly and people with underlying diseases especially in the male sex group are less present in contaminated areas, the necessary training to comply with health protocols in this group of people has been given special attention and in evaluating the need for necessary measures for hospitalization, treatment and vaccination should be prioritized.