Clinical characteristics of Coronavirus 2019 positive patients admitted to a district General Hospital

Title: Clinical characteristics of Coronavirus 2019 positive patients admitted to a district General Hospital
Author(s): O. Nic Grianna, H. McGurk, M. McCloskey, R. Sharkey, M. Kelly, C. King and P. McShane
Institution: Altnagelvin Area Hospital
Poster: Click to view poster
Category: COVID-19
Abstract: The aim of this study is to describe clinical characteristics, outcomes and demographics of patients admitted to Altnagelvin Area Hospital with coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) to help better prepare for second wave.
This is a Retrospective study of 95 adult patients requiring admission between the 16th of March 2020 and 30th of June 2020 and diagnosed with Covid-19. 95 patients had severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection confirmed with polymerase chain reaction testing of nasopharyngeal or sputum samples. Data was collected from electronic medical records and medical notes of the 95 patients.
Clinical features of confirmed covid-19 patients in Altnagelvin Area Hospital
SEX
Male 54
Female 41
AGE
18-39 7
40-49 16
50-59 14
60-69 15
70-79 21
80-89 19
90-99 3
PRESENTING FEATURES
Short of breath (SOB) 63
Pyrexia 53
Cough 61
Other respiratory (Haemoptysis/chest discomfort) 2
General malaise 20
Neurological (headache/seizures/reduced GCS/weakness) 15
Gastrointestinal (Abdominal pain/nausea/vomiting/loose motions) 12
ENT (anosmia/sore throat/runny nose) 8
Fall 7
Other (Haematuria/suicidal/renal failure) 4
64% were hypoxic and of those 38% required greater than 10 litters of oxygen (>10L-O2). 8 patients required continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), 5 were invasively ventilated and 3 were placed on high flow nasal cannula (HFNC). All except 1 patient requiring >10L-O2 that wasn’t ventilated or placed HFNC died. The mean length of stay (LOS) in days for non-hypoxic patients, 5.9, >2L-O2: 9.6, >10L-O2: 6.4, HFNC: 11, CPAP: 13 and invasive ventilation: 24.
This study showed a prolonged LOS for patients that were invasively ventilated, whilst the need for CPAP had a LOS close to half that of invasive ventilation.