Hospital length of stay among COVID-19-positive patients.
Tze Chao Chiam, Keshab Subedi, David Chen, Eric Best, Federica Bianco, Gregory Dobler, Mia A. Papas
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study aims to determine COVID-19 patient demographics and comorbidities associated with their hospital length of stay (LOS). METHODS: Design: Single-site, retrospective study. Setting: A suburban 700-bed community hospital in Newark, Delaware, USA. Patients: Patients admitted to the hospital from March 11, 2020, to August 11, 2020, with a positive COVID-19 status. We followed a time-to-event analysis approach and used Kaplan-Meir curves and log-rank tests for bivariate analyses, and an accelerated failure time model for a multivariable model of hospital LOS. RESULTS: <0.05). Fluid and electrolyte disorder is the only comorbidity independently associated with LOS after adjusting for patients' age, sex, race, ethnicity, number of Elixhauser comorbidities, and weeks since onset of pandemic. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 patients LOS vary based on multiple factors. Understanding these factors are crucial to improving the prediction accuracy of COVID-19 patient census in hospitals for resource planning and care delivery. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: Understanding of the factors associated with LOS of the COVID-19 patients may help the care providers and the patients to better anticipate the LOS, optimize the resources and processes, and prevent protracted stays.