COVID-19 inside out: in-hospital outcomes at a public sector tertiary care hospital in Karachi

ABSTRACT

Objective: To present in-hospital COVID-19 mortality and the associated factors at a public sector tertiary care hospital in Karachi Methodology: The current prospective, observational study was conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi, Pakistan from June 1 to August 30, 2021 with the approval of the hospital ethics committee. Data was collected prospectively from patients' medical record files. COVID-19 infection positive cases were diagnosed according to the guidelines of the WHO on laboratory investigation of real time polymerase chain reaction tests on a nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab. Result: Total 143 patients were enrolled in the study with median (IQR) age of 58 (48-69). The majority of the patients were males (n=96, 67.13%) and had moderate to severe disease (n=128, 89.51%). During their hospital stay, patients developed the following complications;pneumonia (n=99, 69.23%), ARDS (n=19, 13.28%), sepsis (n=11, 7.69%), septic shock (n=5, 3.49%) and pedal edema (n=2, 1.39%). As many as 104 (72.72%), 69 (48.25%), and 42(29.37%) patients required pharmatherapy, non-invasive ventilation, and mechanical ventilation respectively. While 54 (37.76%) patients died during their hospital stay. On multivariable model, pneumonia, use of non-invasive ventilation, and mechanical ventilation, were identified as independent predictors of mortality. Conclusion: Most of the patients in our study had moderate to severe disease. Therefore, the study indicates that timely presentation to the hospital is of great importance to avoid adverse events which are significantly associated with mortality.