Risk Factors for COVID-19 Related Death during the First Three Waves of the Pandemic in an Epidemic Treatment Center at Dakar, Senegal

Abstract

Introduction-Objective: COVID-19 is a highly transmissible but often mild viral infection. However, some patients can present severe COVID-19 and subsequently die. The aim of the present study was to assess the risk factors for COVID-19 related death during the first three waves of the disease at the Epidemic Treatment Center (ETC) of Dakar Principal Hospital (DPH). Method: We conducted a descriptive and analytical perspective survival study from April 4, 2020 to September 25, 2021, including adult patients with COVID-19, hospitalized at the ETC of DPH. Log Rank test and multivariate Cox model were performed to identify risk factors for death. Results: We included 556 COVID-19 patients with mean age of 57 ± 17 years and a male-to-female ratio of 1.26. The number of deaths during one month of follow-up was 41, representing a cumulative risk of 7.4%. The log Rank test showed that being from the third wave (p = 0.0056), advanced age (p = 0.00098), presence of at least one comorbidity (p = 0.034), High blood pressure (p = 0.024), d-dimer level ≥ 1000 IU/L (p < 0.001