Study population
This retrospective study included never-smokers or ex-smokers aged 18 and over who presented to the Atatürk University Emergency Service with complaints of recent-onset fever, cough, shortness of breath, listlessness, and/or sudden attenuation of taste and smell, and who had returned from travel abroad or had contact with suspected COVID-19 patient within the last 14 days.
As specified in the guidelines, COVID-19 patients with respiratory symptoms underwent posterior–anterior chest radiography, and if any suspicious lesions were detected, a more detailed evaluation was performed using high-resolution chest computed tomography9. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were obtained from the patients and COVID-19 diagnosis was established using real-time PCR analysis. A total of 48 patients treated in our pulmonary diseases ward between March 24, 2020 (admission date of the first COVID-19-positive patient to our center) and April 15, 2020 were included in our study. Local ethics committee approval was obtained to use patients’ records for our retrospective research study.