Family Medicine & Medical Science Research
Open Access

Abstract

The Effects of Co-morbidities on COVID-19 Patients Admitted to the Hospital

Ali Zaenab, MD*, Velasquez Jose, MD, Chen-Joea Cynthia, DO, MPH, Zaveri Yousuf, MD, Martin Claudia, MD and Shalikar Hamed, MD

Background: To investigate hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit admission (ICU) and duration, use of mechanical ventilation, and outcomes (death or discharge) in hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 and pre-existing co-morbidities.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of 271 consecutive patients with COVID-19 evaluated at the three Emanate Health hospitals located in Southern California for a three-month period from April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2020. Exposures: Patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection by positive result on the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction testing. Data was electronically and manually extracted from the electronic medical records system and cross-referenced for confirmation. Data collected included all adult patients admitted with and without underlying medical conditions. No patients were excluded.

Main Outcomes and Measures: Clinical outcomes including length of stay (LOS), ICU admission and LOS, need for mechanical ventilation and mortality were measured and a 2-way ANOVA analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism software version 8.4.3. Results: A total of 271 patients were included, during hospitalization 28.8% were admitted to ICU, 19.9% required mechanical ventilation, 19.5% passed, and 21% were discharged to an alternative facility. The most prevalent comorbidity was hypertension 61.9%, followed by diabetes 46.1%, obesity 40.5%, coronary artery disease 13.2%, atrial fibrillation 11.4%, CHF 9.9%, COPD 9.9%, and asthma 1.4%. ABO was determined for 57.5% of patients.

Conclusion: Two-thirds of patients admitted to the hospital had at least one underlying comorbidity, having more than one pre-existing comorbidity correlated with a more complicated hospital course and worse outcome.

Published Date: 2021-03-26; Received Date: 2020-12-16