Factor Contributing Length of Stay of COVID-19 Patients in Hospitals: Scoping Review

Abstract

The very high transmission of COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the current health system, one of which is in hospitals. Understanding the length of stay for COVID-19 patients is needed in a pandemic because the demand for patient care in hospitals is increasing. This paper aims to understand the factors that can affect the length of stay of COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Searches were done on online databases at ScienceDirect, EBSCO, and Google Scholar. A systematic review was carried out on journals published in the last three years, namely 2019-2022, and in English, and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria that had been set. The search results found 12 articles that met the criteria and discussed various factors influencing the severity and length of hospital stay. Several factors identified as having an effect were comorbid, gender, smoking, gender, type of virus, severity, age, and laboratory finding. Hospital preparedness is needed to deal with fluctuations in COVID-19 patients and the number of requests for treatment facilities during the pandemic.