Clinical Course and Outcomes of COVID-19 Patients Admitted to the ICU of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Central India: A Cross-Sectional Study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread globally, leading to a pandemic significantly impacting individuals, communities, and economies worldwide. Public health measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand hygiene have been implemented globally to mitigate the spread of the virus. Many people recovered from COVID-19, but some cases needed intensive care unit (ICU) care, among whom most required mechanical ventilation (MV). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was done among 75 clinical or reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test-confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection admitted to the ICU of a tertiary care unit in India. RESULTS: A maximum number of patients, i.e. 47 (63%), were male, and 26 (35%) belonged to the age group of 41-60 years. The most common symptom was fever at the time of admission to the hospital. Comorbidity was reported in 21 (28%) patients. The majority of patients recorded a combination of hypertension and diabetes. The majority (n =34, 45%) of the patients stayed for ≤ 3 days in the ICU, and 46 (61%) deaths were recorded in the ICU during this period. CONCLUSION: Delayed medical intervention, advanced age, male gender, and underlying health conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes can contribute to worse outcomes and increased mortality in COVID-19 patients.