ABSTRACT
Introduction: The emergence of newer mutated variants of COVID-19 virus has posed a significant challenge. The present study is aimed at investigating the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and the parameters that may serve as predictors of severity and mortality related to COVID-19 in an Indian setting. Method(s): The observation study was carried-out by using the data of COVID-19 patients admitted between July 2020 to June 2021 at JLN Medical College, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. The demographic and clinical data of clinically significant parameters were collected. The statistical difference between recovery and death and between patients who required long-term oxygen and those who did not was evaluated for various demographic and clinical variables. Chi-square and Fisher exact test were performed for categorical variables and t-test for continuous variables. Regression analyses were also carried-out for different variables with respect to survival and death, and for oxygen dependency. Result(s): Variables namely age, duration of hospital stay, overweight, breathlessness, O2 mask therapy, BiPAP support, and ventilator usage were found to be significantly different between recovered and expired subjects (P 0.00). The study has noted hypertension (25.06%) and diabetes (23.73%) as the common comorbidities noted in COVID patients, followed by coronary artery disease (2.98%) and asthma. The study has validated the role of oxygen saturation and requirement of oxygen in predicting mortality among COVID-19 patients. The study identified age as a significant predictor of mortality, obesity as a risk factor in COVID-19 patients, gender as a factor influencing the requirement of oxygen, and fever as an independent factor related to oxygen therapy. Bilevel positive airway pressure was given to majority of expired patients (83%) compared to 10% in recovered patients. Conclusion(s): Variables namely age, BMI, duration of hospital stay, breathlessness, O2 mask therapy, BiPAP support, and ventilator usage could be predictive in COVID-19 severity and mortality. The variables to be considered for predicting oxygen dependency are age, urban/rural, gender, duration of hospital stay, weight, height, BMI, fever, cough, breathlessness, diabetes, hypertension, and CAD. Copyright © 2022, Indian Academy of Clinical Medicine. All rights reserved.