Clinical characteristics and Co-morbidities among patients admitted with COVID-19

BACKGROUND: During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, several characteristics of COVID-19 patients, based on demographics, clinical symptoms, and the presence of comorbidities, were found to be associated with the complications developed. COVID-19 symptoms vary greatly and are more prominent with comorbid diseases. Therefore, the aim of this study to find the clinical characteristics and its association with different comorbidities. METHODS: This is a retrospective study that was performed on the data obtained from medical records of 3999 patients in Riyadh. Demographic data, clinical symptoms and comorbidities were noted on the day of hospital admission. Complications developed during the COVID -19 infection were observed. RESULTS: The average age of patients were 49.55 years old. Fever was the most common symptom among the patients (85.85%), followed by cough (85.85%), and shortness of breath (83.25%). The most common comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (39.51%), hypertension (33.91%), and asthma (9.45%), with chronic rhinosinusitis being the least common (0.5%). Pneumonia affected 61.90% of the patients admitted to the hospital. Furthermore, 8.73% got acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and 7.25% acquired pneumonia and Acute ARDS simultaneously. Co-morbidities were significantly correlated with complications developed during COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were two of the most common symptoms observed. Clinical symptoms, comorbidities, and complications are higher in female patients compared to male patients and most of the patients’ developed complications.