Al Nahdha Hospital research study to help in critical care of COVID-19 patients

Muscat: A research project was carried out to observe the clinical characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted at Al Nahdha Hospital.

A total of 102 patients were part of the study from the day of admission until the day of discharge or transfer to another tertiary care hospital for critical care.

Led by the Principal Investigator Dr Saud Al Harthi, Medical Doctor, Internal Medicine: Diabetes and Endocrinology, Al Nahdha Hospital, the project was funded within the COVID-19 research programme of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI).

According to Dr Saud Al Harthi, Principal Investigator of the research study, the main objective of this study was to map the socio-demographic, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics, as well as the treatment and clinical outcomes of the confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Al Nahdha Hospital in Oman.

Additionally, factors associated with the severity of the disease were identified. The required data for the study were retrieved from the electronic health information system from March 3 to May 9, 2020.

Dr Saud explained that the team studied parameters included, demographic data (age, gender, nationality, employment, and referring institute), and risk factors (history of travel, smoking and alcohol consumption, obesity, medical history of co-morbidities [diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), asthma, chronic kidney disease (CKD), heart failure (HF), and any other chronic diseases]).

The examined treatment measures included antibiotics, antiviral therapy, corticosteroid therapy, respiratory support, and other supportive therapies according to the COVID-19 national guideline.

The research study stated that most patients, representing 84.3 per cent of the total sample, had no history of travel to countries with COVID-19 outbreaks.

“The majority of the patients were non-smokers (85.3 per cent) and non-alcohol consumers (87.3 per cent). Obesity was reported in only 15.7 per cent of patients, of which only 2 per cent had co-existing diabetes,” Dr Saud said.

“Diabetes and hypertension were found in 39.2 per cent and 36.3 per cent of the study population, respectively and common symptoms were dry cough (78.3 per cent), fever (76.5 per cent), and shortness of breath (69.6 per cent),” Dr Saud elaborated.

“Around 19 per cent of the study population required critical care and diabetes and chronic artery disease were significant predictors for requiring critical care,” Dr Saud added.

“Despite some variations in the initial symptoms, most COVID-19 patients had respiratory symptoms where depending on disease severity, the treatment included antibacterial, antiviral, heparin, and steroids,” he stated.

Results from this study can be directed to screen for vulnerable patients who may require critical care and initiate the required preventive management plans.