COVID-19 related mortality profile at a tertiary care centre: A descriptive study
Sudhir Bhandari, Raman Sharma, Ajit Singh Shaktawat, Subrata Banerjee, Bhoopendra Patel, Amit Tak, Deepa Meena, Abhishek Agarwal, Vishal Gupta, Shrikant Sharma, Sunil Mahavar, Radhey Shyam Chejara, Govind Rankawat, Kapil Gupta, Jitendra Gupta, Amitabh Dube, Shivankan Kakkar
Abstract
Background/Aim: The recent pandemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is yet another scourge from the coronaviridae family that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV). The numbers are still on the rise, despite a country wide lockdown and yet no definitive drugs and or/vaccines are available to manage the active COVID-19 cases. Methods: The present research design was a hospital based observational descriptive study conducted at S. M. S. Medical College and Attached hospitals, Jaipur, that analysed data of all the patients with COVID-19 related mortality, admitted between 1 April to 4 May 2020. Patients included in this study were RT-PCR confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 using nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab samples. Results: The mean age of patients with COVID-19 related mortality was 53.41 ± 18.42 year with majority of patients belonging to age group of more than 60 years (41.18 %) followed closely by COVID-19 positive patients in age range of 45 to 60 years (33.33 %). The male to female ratio was 1.68: 1. Mean time lag between hospitalization and death reported was 6.18 days. Majority of the patients admitted (72.5 %) succumbed within 3 days of hospitalization. Eleven patients (21 %) were brought dead to the hospital who were tested COVID-19 positive after death. Most common comorbidity reported in patients with COVID-19 related mortality was hypertension (30 %) followed by diabetes mellitus (27.5 %). Conclusion: Hypertension and diabetes mellitus might be independent risk factors making an individual susceptible to COVID-19 related death. Elderly patients also have a greater risk of mortality. The non-availability of definitive management protocol and/or vaccine against COVID-19 makes public health preventive measures of social distancing, use of masks and frequent handwashing an important modality in the fight against COVID-19.