Coronavirus Disease 2019: Investigating Baseline Characteristics and Clinical Symptoms in COVID 19 Patients

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 started in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Since then several studies examined the clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China.1 But these studies were focused on Chinese people, not those infected in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To our knowledge, there is only one related study conducted in the Middle East, which was conducted in Saudi Arabia by Alsofayan et al [1].

Objectives: The objective of our retrospective study is to analyze the baseline characteristics and clinical symptoms of individuals with COVID 19 and compare differences between those receiving care and those managing symptoms at home of confirmed positive Covid-19 patients presenting to KFSHRC in Riyadh from March to September 2020.
Design: Retrospective observational study carried out in the tertiary care institution in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: We included the for all the patients who presented to our hospital and were screened positive for Covid-19, on their first hospital encounter, for the study period from March 2020 to September 2020. Electronic medical records were accessed for data collection.

Outcome: Discharge status per age group

Sample Size: 1176 patients.

Results: One thousand one hundred seventy-six (1176) patients were screened positive for Covid-19 for the study period from March 2020 to September 2020. 616 were male (52.4%). 94% were adult (1109). 70 patients (6%) were pediatric (age group 1- 14 yrs.). 912 Saudi nationality (77.6%).
One thousand and four (1004) patients had DEM Walk-in screening, 158 outpatient screening, 14 inpatient screening Table 1. The age group > 60 yrs. were the most prevalent group (68%) of the positive Covid 19 who were admitted to the hospital, followed by 46-60 yrs. (45%), 1-14 yrs. (40%), 15-30 yrs. and 31-45 years (25%). Fever and cough were the most dominant signs in both adult and pediatric. 1136 (96.6)

Conclusions: Our study provides a comprehensive characterization of clinical features among COVID-19 patients. Fever and cough were the most common clinical signs and symptoms, while muscle pain, short of breathing, and GI symptoms are uncommon. Our study did not find significant differences between Adults and pediatrics in terms of most common laboratory abnormalities (low lymphocytes and high neutrophils). The age group > 60 yrs. were the most prevalent admission group and had the highest mortality rate.

Limitations: Our study was done in a tertiary care institution, which is a large transplant and oncology center, therefore cannot be generalized to other non- tertiary centers.

Conflict of Interest: None.