Clinical Characteristics, Risk Factors for Severity and Pharmacotherapy in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in the United Arab Emirates.
Amna Mohamed Juma AlmarashdaSyed Arman RabbaniMartin Thomas KurianAjith CherianPublished in: Journal of clinical medicine (2022)
Data on the clinical characteristics, severity and management of COVID-19 from the Middle East region, especially the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is very limited. We studied the clinical characteristics, laboratory biomarkers, risk factors for severity and pharmacotherapy of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in this single-center, analytical cross-sectional study conducted in a secondary care hospital of the UAE. A total of 585 patients were included in the study (median age, 49 years (IQR, 39-59); 66% male). Age > 45 years (OR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.04-4.14, p = 0.040), male gender (OR = 3.15, 95% CI: 1.52-6.51, p = 0.002), presentation symptoms such as fever (OR = 3.68, 95% CI:1.34-10.11, p = 0.011) and shortness of breath/dyspnea (OR = 5.36, 95% CI: 2.69-10.67, p < 0.001), Hb < 13 g/dL (OR = 3.17, 95% CI: 1.51-6.65, p = 0.002), neutrophils > 7 × 10 3 /mcL (OR = 4.89, 95% CI: 1.66-14.37, p =0.004), lymphocytes < 1 × 10 3 /mcL (OR = 7.78, 95% CI: 1.01-60.19, p = 0.049), sodium < 135 mmol/L (OR = 5.42, 95% CI: 1.05-27.95, p = 0.044), potassium < 3.6 mmol/L (OR = 3.36, 95% CI: 1.03-11.01, p = 0.045), urea > 6.5 mmol/L (OR = 3.37, 95% CI: 1.69-6.73, p = 0.001) and LDH > 227 IU/L (OR = 6.26, 95% CI: 1.61-24.32, p = 0.008) were independent predictors of the severity of COVID-19. Antivirals (524, 89.6%) and corticosteroids (358, 61.2%) were prescribed for the management of COVID-19. In conclusion, older age, male gender, presentation symptoms such as fever and dyspnea, low hemoglobin, neutrophilia, lymphopenia, hyponatremia, hypokalemia, elevated levels of urea and lactate dehydrogenase were found to be independent risk factors for severe COVID-19. The pharmacotherapy of COVID-19 patients in our study was diverse, and the medications were prescribed based on the clinical condition of the patients.
Keyphrases
- sars cov
- coronavirus disease
- end stage renal disease
- ejection fraction
- newly diagnosed
- healthcare
- prognostic factors
- emergency department
- smoking cessation
- heart failure
- electronic health record
- patient reported outcomes
- quality improvement
- early onset
- liquid chromatography
- drug induced
- community dwelling
- affordable care act