Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19: Experience at a major tertiary care center in Pakistan

Introduction: Limited data exist on clinical characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in low-middle income countries. We aimed to describe the clinical spectrum and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at a tertiary-care center in Karachi, Pakistan. Methodology: We conducted an observational study of adult COVID-19 patients hospitalized between February-June 2020. Patients with a discharge diagnosis of COVID-19 and PCR positivity were included. We created logistic regression models to understand association of clinical characteristics with illness severity and in-hospital mortality. Results: The study population comprised 445 patients [67% males, median age 53 (IQR 40-64) years]. Majority of patients (N = 268; 60%) had > 1 co-morbid [37.5% hypertension, 36.4% diabetes]. In-hospital mortality was 13%. Age > 60 (aOR] =1.92; 95 %CI = 1.23-3.03), shortness of breath (aOR=4.43; 95% CI=2.73-7.22), CRP >150mg/L (aOR:1.77; 95% CI=1.09-2.85), LDH > 500 I.U/L (aOR:1.98; 95% CI=1.25-3.16), Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte ratio (NLR) >5 (aOR:2.80; 95%CI = 1.77-4.42) and increase in serum creatinine (aOR:1.32; 95%CI=1.07-1.61) were independently associated with disease severity. Septic shock (aOR: 13.27; 95% CI=3.78-46.65), age > 60 (aOR: 3.26; 95% CI=1.07-9.89), Ferritin > 1500ng/ml (aOR: 3.78; 95% CI=1.21-11.8), NLR > 5 (aOR: 4.04; 95% CI=1.14-14.35) and acute kidney injury (aOR: 5.52; 95% CI=1.78-17.06) were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Conclusions: We found multiple predictors to be independently associated with in-hospital mortality, except diabetes and gender. Compared to reports from other countries, the in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients was lower, despite a high burden of co-morbidities. Further research is required to explore reasons behind this dichotomy.