Clinical characteristics and laboratory parameters associated with the risk of severe COVID-19 in patients from two hospitals in Northeast Brazil

• Main Author: Araújo,Sara Larissa de Melo
• Publication Date: 2022
• Other Authors: Feitosa,Thiala Alves, Pereira,Vanessa Cardoso, Andrade,Clara Caldeira de, Silva,Ana Tércia Paulo, Andrade,Lorena Viana de, Lopes,Kamila Erika Ribeiro, Sá,Mirela Vanessa de Souza, Souza,Carlos Dornels Freire de, Armstrong,Anderson da Costa, Carmo,Rodrigo Feliciano do
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Download full: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822022000100332
• topic: Coronavirus; Predictors; Risk factors; SARS-CoV-2; Severity

ABSTRACT Background: Although most coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections are mild, some patients have severe clinical conditions requiring hospitalization. Data on the severity of COVID-19 in Brazil are scarce and are limited to public databases. This study aimed to investigate the clinical and laboratory factors associated with the severity of COVID-19 in a cohort of hospitalized adults from two hospitals in Northeast Brazil. Methods: Patients over 18 years of age who were hospitalized between August 2020 and July 2021 with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 were included. The patients were classified into two groups: moderate and severe. Clinical, laboratory and imaging parameters were collected and compared between the groups. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine the predictors of COVID-19 severity. Results: This study included 495 patients (253 moderate and 242 severe). A total of 372 patients (75.2%) were between 18 and 65 years of age, and the majority were male (60.6%; n = 300). Patients with severe disease had higher levels of leukocytes, neutrophils, platelets, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, blood glucose, C-reactive protein, ferritin, D-dimer, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, and urea (p < 0.05). In multivariate logistic regression, the following variables were significant predictors of COVID-19 severity: leukocytes (odds ratio [OR] 3.27; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.12-5.06), international normalized ratio (INR) (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.14-0.33), and urea (OR 4.03; 95% CI 2.21-7.35). Conclusions: The present study identified the clinical and laboratory factors associated with the severity of COVID-19 in hospitalized Brazilian individuals.