Risk factors for hospital mortality of patients with COVID-19 and 6-month follow-up of discharged patients

ABSTRACT

Since the first case in Turkey was documented on March 11, 2020, the disease spread rapidly and continues to pose a public health threat in our country. Patients meeting any of the following criteria were hospitalized for inpatient treatment - Respiratory distress, tachypnea (respiratory rate > 30/min) or oxygen saturation (SpO2) < 90% on room air, - Age > 50 years, - Comorbidity (cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cancer, chronic lung disease, immunosuppressive conditions), - Poor prognostic markers in blood tests performed at admission (blood lymphocyte count < 800/p.L, CRP > 40 mg/L, ferritin > 500 ng/ml, or D-dimer > 1000 ng/ml), - Chest x-ray or CT findings of bilateral diffuse pneumonia. Patients were classified into four COVID-19 clinical severity groups according to the classification recommended by the World Health Organizationll - Mild Presenting with mild upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms but no signs of hypoxia or viral pneumonia - Moderate Presenting with signs of pneumonia but SpO2 > 90 mmHg on room air - Severe Presenting with clinical signs of pneumonia and severe respiratory distress or SpO2 < 90 mmHg on room air - Critical Presenting with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) When evaluating demographic, laboratory, and clinical findings by disease severity, the patients were divided into two groups, mild+moderate (group 1) and severe+critical (group 2). Data collection Data regarding the patients' demographical, clinical, and radiological characteristics, comorbid status, laboratory findings such as serum leukocyte, neutrophil, lymphocyte, and platelet counts, biochemical and coagulation parameters, acute phase reactants, procalcitonin, troponin levels and at first admission and during follow-up (day 3, 7, and 14), symptoms at first admission, treatments, complications, and outcomes were obtained by retrospective review of electronic patient records.