ABSTRACT
Background: Since December 2019, (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on global health systems. Because little is known about the clinical characteristics and risk factors connected with COVID-19 severity in Sudanese patients, it is vital to summarize the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients and to investigate the risk factors linked to COVID-19 severity. Objectives: We aimed to assess the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients and look into risk factors associated with COVID-19 severity. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study that took place in two Isolation Centers in Wad Medani, Gezira State, Sudan. Four hundred and eighteen patients were included between May 2020 and May 2021. All COVID-19 patients over the age of 18 who were proven COVID-19 positive by nucleic acid testing or had characteristics suggestive of COVID-19 on a chest CT scan and had a complete medical record in the study period were included. Results: The participants in this study were 418 confirmed COVID-19 cases with a median age of 66.313 years. There were 279 men (66.7%) among the patients. The most prevalent comorbidities were hypertension (n = 195; 46.7%) and diabetes (n = 187; 44.7%). Fever (n = 303; 72.5%), cough (n = 278; 66.5%), and dyspnea (n = 256; 61.2%) were the most prevalent symptoms at the onset of COVID-19. The overall mortality rate (n = 148) was 35.4%. Patients with severe illness had a mortality rate of 42.3% (n = 118). Older age, anemia, neutrophilia, and lymphocytopenia, as well as higher glucose, HbA1c, and creatinine levels, were all linked to severe COVID-19, according to the chi-square test and analysis of variance analysis. Conclusion: Sixteen variables were found to be associated with COVID-19 severity. These patients are more prone to go through a serious infection and as a result have a greater death rate than those who do not have these characteristics.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is highly contagious and can spread a pandemic, so it is related to serious health issues and major public concerns, and is considered by the medical community to be the greatest concern because it is the greatest risk of infection. OBJECTIVE: To identify and assess the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare professionals in Khartoum state hospitals 2021. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Generalized Anxiety Scale (GAD-7), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and Work-Family Balance Measure Scale were used to assess the psychological impact of doctors and nurses working in four big hospitals in Sudan, by an online questionnaire, analyzed by the statistical package for social science (SPSS) during February. RESULTS: Most of the participants had minimal to mild anxiety according to GAD-7 score, 121 (35.2%) and 103 (29.9%), respectively. Using PSS-10, the cutoff point was determined as 19 as the mean for total score was 19.2 ± 6.2, accordingly, more than half had high levels of stress (scored 19 and above) 189 (54.9%). For the Work-Family Balance Scale, 10 was regarded as the cutoff point. There was a significant association between specialty and stress level p-value .032. No significant correlations were found between age and stress level, neither between age and anxiety level (r -.100, p-value .064 and r = -.022, p-value .683, respectively). CONCLUSION: More than half of healthcare professionals (54.9%) showed high levels of stress. Most of the healthcare professionals had poor work-family balance (60.2%).