Clinical Manifestations and Associated Mortality Factors of COVID-19: A
large population-based study in Northeast of Iran: 2020-2021
Abstract
Background: The emergence of the coronavirus disease in late 2019
(COVID-19) has become one of the greatest health problems of the 21st
century. Many aspects of this viral disease are still hidden. The
current study is conducted to investigate COVID-19’s clinical
manifestation, mortality factors, and their association with each other
in the COVID-19 pandemic in Razavi-Khorasan province, Iran. Methods &
Materials: This retrospective epidemiological population-based study was
conducted from January 21, 2020, to March 20, 2021. The data including
demographic characteristics and clinical presentations of the patients
were extracted from the Medical Care Monitoring System (MCMC), disease
management portal in the deputy of health and Hospital Information
System (HIS). Results: A total of 80499 patients were admitted to all
hospitals of Khorasan-Razavi University of Medical Sciences with
laboratory/clinical COVID-19 confirmed disease, between January 2020 and
March 2021. The male-to-female ratio was 1.10:1 and the mean age of our
COVID-19 individuals was 55.67 ± 23.27. The most frequently reported
presenting symptoms at admission were respiratory distress (58.2%),
fever (36.7%), and cough (34.9%), and alternation in smell/taste
(0.9%) was the less frequent. Being male, aging older than 60 years and
having comorbidities were significantly associated with higher mortality
rates. Conclusion: Due to the genetic mutations in the virus and the
emergence of the new variants of the virus, clinical presentations, and
mortality rates of the COVID-19 have been shifted through three reviewed
waves. Further studies are needed to determine the impact of the new
variants of the virus on individuals.