Clinical characteristics and risk factors of patients with severe COVID-19 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A retrospective study

Abstract

Background COVID-19 is newly emerging infectious disease that spread globally at unpredictable and unique pattern to the extent that the World Health Organization announced COVID −19 as a pandemic in the first couple months of 2020. This study aims to describe clinical and demographic features of COVID-19 patients and the influence of various risk factors on the severity of disease. Methods This research is a retrospective study based on Saudi Arabia's ministry of health's Covid-19 data. The analysis relies on data of all COVID-19 patients recorded in Riyadh between 1 st , March 2020 and 30 th , July, 2020. Statistical analyses were performed to investigate the effect of demographic characteristic, clinical presentation, and comorbidities on infection severity. Results A total number of 1026 COVID-19 patients were identified based on the demographic data as follows: 709 cases (69% of cases) were males and 559 cases (54% of cases) were Saudi. Most of patients were diagnosed with mild signs and symptoms 697 (68% of cases), while 164 patient (16% of cases) demonstrated moderate signs and symptoms, and 103 cases (10%) were severe and 62 (6%) had critical febrile illness. Fever, cough, sore throat, and shortness of breath were the most common symptoms among patients with COVID-19. Among studied comorbidities in COVID-19 patients, diabetes mellitus and hypertension were the most prevalent. The results from the bivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older age, diabetes mellitus, asthma, smoking, and fever are associated with severe or critically ill cases. Conclusion The findings of this study show that old age, fever, and comorbidities involving diabetes mellitus, asthma, and smoking were significantly associated with infection severity.

Clinical Characteristics, Complications, and Predictors of Poor Outcome Among Hospitalized Adult COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study

“…Poor outcome was observed in 18% (97/527) of patients, and the proportion of patients who died during admission was 8% (42/527). These findings are supported by previous national and international studies ranging from 6% to 33% for ICU admission and 6% to 14% for hospital mortality [ 11 , 12 , 20 , 21 ].…”

Clinical Laboratory and Radiological Findings in COVID-19 Patients with Variable Severity: King Fahad Medical City Experience

“…A higher risk of adverse Covid-19 outcome that increases with age as seen in our study is estimated to be in about 20% of individuals with chronic conditions [13][14][15]. A study by Aleanizy FS, et al also revealed old age, fever, and comorbidities involving diabetes mellitus, asthma, and smoking to be significantly associated with infection severity [16].…”

Gastrointestinal manifestations of COVID-19 in a single center in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

“…In addition, a study from Saudi Arabia by Aleanizy et al . [ 21 ] investigated the clinical characteristics of 1026 COVID-19 cases and found that the presence of nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea did not differ between mild, severe, or critical infection. On the contrary, Menon et al .…”

“…Moreover, non-Saudi patients had a higher risk of severe to critical disease in the same study by Aleanizy et al . [ 21 ] One explanation for the poor outcome associated with age and male sex is that impaired T cell response due to advanced age is associated with worse outcomes, especially in male patients. [ 31 ] Genetic factors might be implicated in the increased risk of severe COVID-19 infection among non-Saudi patients.…”