Demographic and Clinical Status of COVID-19 Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu: An Observational Study

Introduction: The ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection has posed significant threats to international health and economy. On 30th January 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Despite exponential rise of COVID-19 cases, there are limited studies on COVID19, so an observational study to assess the demographic and clinical status of COVID-19 patients at a Tertiary Care Centre was conducted. Aim: To study the demographic and clinical status of COVID-19 patients in a tertiary care hospital in Chengalpattu district. To assess the co-morbid status and its influence on the outcome among the study population. To find the doubling rate and weekly trend of COVID-19 cases. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Chengalpattu Medical College Hospital, Chengalpattu district among the COVID-19 patients during April to June 2020. By nonprobability sampling technique (convenient sampling), all the COVID-19 patients (n=3028) admitted in the institution during the study period were included. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to collect the data.The questionnaire had three sections A, B, and C. Section A dealt with sociodemographic details, Section B with symptom status and co-morbidity status and section C with COVID test results. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Data was entered in MS Excel and analysis was done using SPSS Software. Results: In this study, there were 1932 (64%) males and 1096 (36%) females; 1489 (49%) were affected in the age group of 21-40 years, which was the most commonly affected group; 704 (23%) were in the age group above 50 years; 2574 (85%) of cases were from urban areas of Chengalpattu district; 1145 (38%) were found to be symptomatic, fever being the predominant symptom 753 (66%); 712 (24%) of the patients were associated with co-morbid conditions, the most common being diabetes mellitus 391 (55%); mean duration of stay was found to be 9.21±3.26 days; doubling rate was found to be 18.91 days; the overall swab positivity rate was 14.56%; the overall case fatality rate was 2.47%; 3028 (59%) of the district cases were treated in the institution. Conclusion: This study found that the patients aged >50 years with co-morbidity are at a higher risk of mortality than others. The present work predicts that the number of cases double in 19 days. Hence, strict containment measures are recommended to lengthen the doubling rate