Abstract
BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been declared a global public-health crisis due to its impact on health, economy, and mental well-being. Here, we evaluated the clinical and epidemiological parameters associated with COVID-19 in South India. METHODS: A retrospective, quaternary care hospital-based study that included COVID-19 positive patients admitted to MIOT International Hospital, Chennai between 8 April-7 August 2020. Cases were identified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, and radiological findings were recorded and analyzed. The primary endpoint was stable discharge from hospital/patient recovery or death. Associations between risk factors and comorbidities were analyzed using Chi-Square/Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Of the 5264 cases reviewed, 3345 cases were included. The mean (standard deviation, SD) age of the patients was 47.58 (16.69) years with a median and range hospital stay of 5 (2-41) days. 69.20% of patients were male. The most frequent comorbidities were diabetes (37.10%) and hypertension (29.10%). Contact history was available for 58% of patients. The most common symptoms were cough (36.60%), fever (28.30%), and myalgia (15.40%). Abnormal chest radiography was reported in 16.9% of patients. Phase of admission, age ≥50 years, hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease was significantly associated with mortality (p < 0.05). There were 142 (4.2%) deaths in this study. CONCLUSION: In this single centre hospital-based study, late presentation and more severe form of COVID pneumonia lead to higher mortality although it had lower mortality rate for COVID-19 in comparison. Late phase of the pandemic showed better outcomes vs. the early group.