Role Of Common Laboratory Markers In Estimating The Duration Of Hospital Stay In COVID-19 Patients

ABSTRACT

Background: COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in 2019 and its successive waves have created high alerts periodically across many nations including India. At the time of successive waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the key concerns among developing nations was to manage the patient burden in hospitals with limited available infrastructure. Objective(s) In the present study we have analysed the role of common laboratory markers as a predictor of hospital stay in COVID-19-positive patients so that hospital resources can be managed efficiently. Method(s) We studied the data of 200 COVID-19-positive patients for TLC, LDH, D-dimer, and serum ferritin and analysed their correlation with hospital stay Results: TLC and LDH exhibit a positive correlation with hospital stay whereas D-dimer and serum ferritin showed a negative correlation with hospital stay among COVID-19 patients. Patients with a negative CRP showed a longer duration of hospital stay with a median stay of 9 days. Conclusion(s) Being a developing nation, healthcare centres in India have limited resources. In such a scenario, common laboratory markers can prove to be a promising tool in managing hospital resources by estimating the hospital stay of patients. Copyright © 2022 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.