Demographic and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 mortality in Southern India-A single centre observational study
Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: COVID-19 pandemic has spread worldwide with new variants of viruses and reinfections. As we have to live with COVID-19,public health efforts should focus on preventing avoidable mortalities. The mortality with COVID 19 shows marked regional variation; henceregional studies are needed. Objectives: Our study analyses the demographic and clinical characteristics of deceased COVID-19 patients, whichare critical for developing geographic-specific public health interventions to reduce mortality. Materials and methods: We conducted aretrospective observational study from 1 April 2020 to 31 August 2021 in Kerala, India. We analysed 1201 death summaries of laboratoryconfirmedCOVID-19 deaths and included 1076 cases for the study. Results: Mean age of the deceased was 65.7 years (SD: 14 years). Of thetotal deaths, 65.9% were males. The mean duration between the onset of symptoms to admission in our hospital was 4.9 days (SD 3.7 days, IQR5 days). The most frequent presenting symptoms were breathlessness (68.2%) and fever (57.3%). 90.1% in the study group had at least onecomorbidity. Diabetes (53.5%) was the most common comorbidity, followed by hypertension (52.3%). Diabetes was also the most frequentcomorbidity reported in COVID-19 deaths among young (≤40 years), pregnant and vaccinated groups. Conclusion: The elderly, males andpatients with underlying comorbidities, especially diabetes, die disproportionately due to COVID-19. Health intervention strategies likevaccination, promotion of healthy lifestyle to control comorbidities and awareness programmes for COVID appropriate behaviour should beprioritised in these vulnerable populations.
Institution: Kannur Medical College
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7217574191