ABSTRACT
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel coronavirus infection disease causing respiratory failure and a high death rate in vulnerable populations. Prior studies have identified age, male sex, and metabolic comorbidities, such as hypertension and diabetes as risk factors for poor outcomes in patients with COVID-19. These comorbidities are more common among older age groups, and overwhelming evidence from around the world suggests that age itself is the most significant risk factor for severe disease and death from COVID-19. The aim of this study was to determine the associated risk factors of severe COVID-19 infections among older patients. Material & Methods: This was a prospective study and was conducted in the Department of Pharmacology of Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College Hospital, Kishoreganj, Bangladesh during the period from March, 2021 to March, 2022. In this study, we took 80 confirmed cases of COVID 19 positive who attended and took admission in Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Medical College Hospital, Kishoreganj, Bangladesh. Results: In our study we found majority (48.75%) of our study patients were aged between 65-74 years old, most of our patients were male (61.25%). The mean age of our patients was 76.54 ± 21.04 years. Among all patients, 89% had respiratory difficulty, 86% came with nausea & vomiting, 83% came with fever, 74% had ache all over body, 76% & 64% came with chest pain & running nose respectively. We found 51% patients with DM,80% with CKD, 70% with respiratory failure, 49% with arrhythmia, 74% with IHD, 46% with Sepsis, 55% with acute liver injury, 26% with coagulopathy. Some risk factors co-exist among our patients. Conclusion: In our study, we included the elderly patients with COVID 19 associated with severe illness who had a high mortality rate. We found aged above 80 years, male gender, DM, CKD, respiratory failure, arrhythmia, IHD, Sepsis, acute liver injury are most common risk factors that triggers the severity of COVID 19 infections.