Introduction
In late 2019, a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, emerged in Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China. The World Health Organization named the disease caused by the virus, COVID-19. Mortality rates in COVID-19 has shown great variability among countries, cities, and even districts. Many factors such as D-Dimer and C-Reactive Protein have been repeatedly reported in line with increased mortality rate due to the inflammatory and possible cytokines storm response. In this study, we aim to assess and compare the different factors related to COVID-19 mortality patterns among cases of two different Saudi hospitals from different regions.
Methodology
We conducted a retrospective cohort study through reviewing the cases' records at the Ohud hospital (Medina) and Dammam medical complex (Dammam) between March 2020 to April 2020. All confirmed COVID-19 cases with a registered COVID-related death were included in the current study. No restrictions were made regarding age, gender, illness severity, or the admitting department. We retrieved information using a data extraction tool for the variables of interest. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel 2013 and used SPSS to conduct all of our analyses.
Results
Overall, 76 cases were included in the currents study; out of them, 38 cases were from Dammam Medical Complex at Dammam and an equal number was from Ohud Hospital at Medina. We found a statically significant difference among the nationality distribution between the two hospitals (p< 0.001) with Bangladeshi national constitutes the largest portion. Of those cases, 35.5% had Diabetes, 31.6% had Hypertension, and 10.5% had IHD with a statistically significant difference in the prevalence rates of hypertension (p= 0.048). There was a consistent presentation of clinical symptoms/signs among cases on comparing the two hospitals. Nevertheless, there was a statistically significant differences in the initial presentation including the initial body temperature, initial heart rate, breathing rhythms, breathing quality, and added sounds (p<0.05).
Conclusion
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom has maintained a robust healthcare system to minimized case fatalities. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, impacts bodies in a variety of ways, and this makes reporting of COVID-19 deaths more challenging. More studies on the risk factors associated with COVID-19 related deaths are needed to control disease progression and to improve its treatment.