A STUDY OF COMORBIDITIES AND OUTCOME IN COVID-19 PATIENTS AT A DEDICATED COVID HOSPITAL
Authors: V Kulkarni Prabhanjan , R Nirankari Swapnil , B Waghmare Bhagyashri , P Kamble Sushilkumar , A Bhattacharya Meenakshi 
Published: February 2022

Introduction: In December 2019, COVID-19 was rst identied in Wuhan, China, as a respiratory tract
infection causing symptoms, such as fever, chills, dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath. The rst
case in India was reported on 27 January 2020 from Kerala, while the rst case in the city where this study was conducted, was
reported on 15 March 2020. The study was conducted at a Dedicated COVID Hospital (DCH). We assessed the co-morbidities
and other demographic details of COVID positive patients admitted in the rst 10 months of the pandemic.
Methods: 3187 COVID-19 positive patients admitted in the rst wave of COVID-19 from April 2020 to 31 December 2020 were
selected, and their demographic details, duration of hospital stay and co-morbidities were studied. Patient details were
entered in a spreadsheet and analysis was done using OpenEpi program.
Results And Discussion: Of the 3187 patients included in the study, 943 patients died, whereas 2244 patients were discharged
from our hospital. Amongst the 943 deaths, 612(65%) were males and 331(35%) were females. The age distribution of the
patients who died showed maximum patients in age group of 61-80 years (452 patients, 47.3%). Maximum deaths occurred in
September which were 200 (21.20%). When the interval between date of admission and date of death was calculated, it was
observed that maximum deaths occurred in the group of 1-5 days (452 deaths, 47.93%). Maximum patients who died had some
comorbidity (650, 69%), whereas 293 (31%) patients did not have any comorbidity. Hypertension was the most commonly
occurring comorbidity in patients who died, with 108 patients being exclusively hypertensive, and 308 patients having
hypertension along with some other comorbidity. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was the second most commonly observed comorbidity
in the patients who died, with 86 patients having DM alone, and 245 having DM along with other comorbidities.
Amongst the 2244 patients who were discharged, 1354 (60%) were male and 80 (40%) were female. Maximum patients
discharged were from the age group of 41-60 years(918 patients, 40.90%). Maximum discharges were done in September (506,
22.54%). When the interval between date of admission and date of discharge was calculated, it was observed that maximum
discharges were in the group of 1-10 days (1173 discharges, 52.27%). Maximum patients who were discharged did not have any
comorbidity (1548, 69%), whereas 696 (31%) patients had some comorbidity. Hypertension was the most commonly occurring
comorbidity in patients who were discharged, with 175 patients being exclusively hypertensive, and 254 patients having
hypertension along with some other comorbidity. DM was the second most commonly observed comorbidity in the patients who
were discharged, with 127 patients having DM alone, and 236 having DM along with other comorbidities.
Conclusion: Some groups appear to be at higher risk of serious disease progression & increased mortality due to COVID-19. In
patients without co-morbidities, 69% recovered whereas 31% died, while in patients with co-morbidities, 69% died whereas
31% recovered. Hypertension was most common co-morbidity observed in dead as well as recovered patients followed by DM.
Outcome was poorer in patients with chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular accidents, ischemic heart disease, and cancer.
The ratio of discharges & death in rst 10 days of hospital stay was 1.7 & in next 10 days (i.e. day 11-20) was 4.5, i.e. outcome was
better in the group of 11-20 days stay in the hospital than rst 10 days. Most common age group in patients who died was 61-80
years, while most common age group amongst recovered was 41-60 years.
Multiple strategies can be devised to specically target these high risk groups to prevent mortality due to COVID-19.
Additionally, further studies relating to the pathophysiological processes of COVID-19 especially in high risk groups need to be
undertaken which can contribute to development of possible prevention and treatment strategies.