Factors Associated with COVID-19 Severity Among Kidney Transplant and Non-Kidney Transplant Patients at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 epidemic is a rapidly shifting situation that has resulted in significant regulatory reforms and widespread initiatives to deal with the initial crisis and its effects. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on transplantation activities. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused various important challenges in the kidney transplant industry. OBJECTIVE: To identify the factors influencing COVID-19 severity in kidney transplant and non-kidney transplant patients at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted. This study included 364 patients (182 kidney transplants and 182 non-kidney transplants). A systematic random sampling was used to select the respondents. Professional nurses collected data for this study using a data extraction tools. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 25 software. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the association between independent variables and COVID-19 severity with adjusted odds ratio (AOR), and 95% CI for AOR and P-value for testing significance. RESULTS: This study included 364 patients. Off the total, 34.1% developed severe COVID-19. In Multivariable logistic regression analysis, patients with 60 years and above age groups (AOR = 4.73; 95% CI: 1.86, 12.02), aged 40–59 years (AOR = 2.70; 95% CI: 1.17, 6.22), chest congestion (AOR = 4.49; 95% CI: 2.37, 8.50), history of muscle or body aches (AOR = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.99) shortness of breath (AOR = 3.03; 95% CI: 1.36, 6.74), changed or lost sense of taste or smell (AOR = 2.77; 95% CI: 1.34, 5.71), and muscle pain (AOR = 3.05; 95% CI: 1.40, 6.65) were significant variables associated with COVID-19 severity after adjusting for other variables. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that 34.1% of patients had severe COVID-19. The majority of these patients underwent non-kidney transplants. Age groups and symptoms, such as chest congestion, shortness of breath, changed or lost sense of taste or smell, and muscle pain, were significant predictors of COVID-19 disease severity.