Factors affecting admission to intensive care unit of COVID-19 patients in the Kingdom of Bahrain

ABSTRACT

Objective: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a newly emerging infectious disease that has become a global pandemic. This study aimed to identify the risk factors at presentation to predict intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. Materials & Methods: This retrospective observational study recruited 188 confirmed laboratory COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in Jidhafs Maternity Hospital (JMH) from 1st June to 5th July 2020. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to Explore risk factors associated with the increased risk of ICU admission. Results: The study revealed that older age (>60 years old) (16[38.1%], P=0.044), male gender (30 [40.0%], P=0.000) were significantly associated with the increased risk of ICU admissions. The most prevalent symptoms in admission were myalgia (13[40.6%], P=0.035), fever (39[34.2%], P=0.002) and cough (37[31.4%], P=0.032). In addition, raised serum level of alanine amino-transferase (ALAT) (34.7% vs. 20.7%, P=0.033), D-dimers (30.7% vs 12.2%, P=0.012), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (31.6% vs 0.0%, P=0.025) and ferritin (37.7% vs 16.7%, P=0.011) found to be important predictor of ICU admission. Conclusion: The finding indicates that older age, male gender, with increased alanine transferase (ALT), increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), high D-dimer and high ferritin was associated with an increased risk of ICU admissions. Identification of such factors will help to detect people who are more likely to develop severe COVID-19 disease and will help physicians to determine if patients need regular health care or ICU admission.