Characteristics and prognostic factors of COVID-19 among infected cases: a nationwide Tunisian analysis

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to constitute an international public health concern. Few data are available on the duration and prognostic factors of the disease. We aimed to study the recovery time among a Tunisian cohort of COVID-19 confirmed patients and iden...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Harizi, Chahida, Cherif, Ines, Najar, Nourhene, Osman, Molka, Mallekh, Rym, Ayed, Oumaima Ben, Ayedi, Yosr, Dhaouadi, Sonia, Hchaichi, Aicha, Safer, Mouna, Letaief, Hejer, Bouaziz, Ilhem, Derouiche, Sondes, Gharbi, Donia, Bouabid, Leila, Bougatef, Souha, Ben Salah, Hamida, Fakhfakh, Radhouane, Abid, Salma, Ben Boubaker, Ilhem Boutiba, Chahed, Mohamed Kouni, Ben-Alaya, Nissaf Bouafif
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2021
Materias:
Research Article
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7856618/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33535971
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-05844-y
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to constitute an international public health concern. Few data are available on the duration and prognostic factors of the disease. We aimed to study the recovery time among a Tunisian cohort of COVID-19 confirmed patients and identify the prognostic factors. METHODS: A retrospective, nationwide study was conducted from March 2 to May 8, 2020, recruiting all patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19, by RT-PCR methods, in Tunisia. Data were collected via phone call interview. Kaplan-Meir Methods and Cox proportional hazards regression models were, respectively, used to study the recovery time and estimate its prognostic factors. RESULTS: One thousand and thirty patients with COVID-19 (aged 43.2 ± 18.2 years, 526 female (51.1%)) were enrolled. Among them 141 (14.8%) were healthcare professionals. Out of 173 patients (17.8%) admitted to the hospital, 47 were admitted in an intensive care unit. Among 827 patients who didn’t require specialized care, 55.5% were self-isolated at home, while the rest were in specialized centers. Six hundred and two patients were symptomatic. A total of 634 (61.6%) patients have recovered and 45 (4.4%) patients died. The median duration of illness was estimated to be 31 days (95% CI: [29–32]). Older age (HR = 0.66, CI:[0.46–0.96], P = 0.031) and symptoms (HR = 0.61, CI:[0.43–0.81], P = 0.021) were independently associated with a delay in recovery time. Being a healthcare professional (HR = 1.52, CI: [1.10–2.08], P = 0.011) and patients in home isolation compared to isolation centers (HR = 2.99, CI: [1.85–4.83], P < 10¯(3)) were independently associated with faster recovery time. CONCLUSION: The duration of illness was estimated to be 1 month. However, this long estimated duration of illness may not equate to infectiousness. A particular attention must to be paid to elderly and symptomatic patients with closer monitoring.

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