Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Integrating traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine has been extensively studied in managing respiratory disease. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to examine interferon point alteration (IPA) and its association with disease severity in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 with lung involvement. The control group consisted of patients hospitalized with a diagnosis other than COVID-19. The prevalence of IPA was compared between patients with and without COVID-19. Clinical and laboratory findings were compared in patients with and without IPA. RESULTS: A total of 126 participants, with a mean (SD) age of 57.2 (16.4) years, were included in this study. 54.8% of participants were men. There was a significant difference between patients with and without COVID-19 regarding the frequency of IPA (p = 0.045). No significant differences were observed between variables in patients with and without IPA (p ≥ 0.05). The only variable that could significantly predict the IPA in COVID-19 patients was the severity score of lung involvement in HRCT (OR: 5.32, 95% CI: 1.08-26.05, p = 0.039). IPA showed a sensitivity and specificity of 80.9% and 34.9% in identifying COVID-19 patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study found a significant association between IPAs and the severity of lung involvement in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and a significant association of COVID-19 with IPAs.