Clinical features, laboratory characteristics and risk factors for mortality of COVID-19 patients in a secondary hospital in Oman during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

BACKGROUND: The changing epidemiological profile of the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertain clinical picture of patients characterise this ongoing and most challenging health event. OBJECTIVES: To report clinical features, laboratory characteristics, and mortality risk factors among COVID-19 patients admitted to a secondary hospital in Oman. METHODS: A retrospective study for the first 455 patients admitted with COVID-19 to Rustaq hospital from 12th April, 2020 to 27th September, 2020. A predesigned questionnaire collected data from the hospital medical electronic system. RESULTS: The mean age was 42.84 (SD = 19.86) years, and the majority of patients were aged 30 to 59 and 60 or above; 207 (45.5%) and 189 (41.5%), respectively. Male patients constituted approximately two-thirds of the subjects. Fever, dyspnea and cough were the most common presenting symptoms (69%, 66%, and 62%, respectively), while comorbidities with diabetes mellitus and hypertension were 47% and 44%, respectively. Bacterial growth was identified at approximately 10%. Bivariate analysis turned out to be significant with a number of factors. However, multivariate analysis showed significance with patients aged over 60 (OR = 7.15, 95% CI 1.99–25.63), dyspnea (OR = 2.83, 95% CI 1.5–5.33), dyslipidemia (OR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.02–3.66) and being bed-ridden (OR = 5.01, 95% CI 1.73–14.44). Durations from onset of symptoms to admission and respiratory distress were lower among patients who died; p = 0.024 and p = 0.001, respectively. Urea, Troponin and LDH may act as potential diagnostic biomarkers for severity or mortality. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified groups of patients with a higher risk of mortality, with severe disturbance in the laboratory markers while some could act as potential diagnostic biomarkers.