PUNE A Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) study, based on data from its internal app tracking critical Covid-19 patients, has found that the baseline severity, or condition in which patients were admitted to hospital, proved to be a major factor in determining the case fatality rate (CFR).
While the CFR for those who did not need oxygen on admission was about 3 per cent, it was 75 per cent among patients who needed a ventilator upon admission.
It also found that males had a higher CFR than females.
The study was concluded based on data filled in by 70 city hospitals and found that of the 4,644 critical patients, 901 died during a hospital stay. A total of 3,743 were discharged.
The duration of the hospital stay averaged seven days.
It also concluded that the hospital mortality progressively increased from lower to higher age groups.
Mortality was 4.1 per cent in patients younger than 30 years of age, but increased to 32.6% in patients aged 61 years or above.
Dr Sunil Rao, group medical director of Sahyadri Group of Hospitals, said, “We have found that the recovery time of critical Covid-19 patients is difficult. The oxygen requirement of the patients is too much as the lung damage is extensive. By the time the patient is admitted on the ventilator or in the ICU, the damage to the lungs is so severe that the recovery time exceeds other infections. We do not have many options to treat a Covid-19 patient since it is a new disease.”
{{/usCountry}}Dr Sunil Rao, group medical director of Sahyadri Group of Hospitals, said, “We have found that the recovery time of critical Covid-19 patients is difficult. The oxygen requirement of the patients is too much as the lung damage is extensive. By the time the patient is admitted on the ventilator or in the ICU, the damage to the lungs is so severe that the recovery time exceeds other infections. We do not have many options to treat a Covid-19 patient since it is a new disease.”
{{/usCountry}}The study found that early detection of Covid-19 and treatment proved to be critical factor in saving lives. Age groups, gender, baseline severity of admission, history of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, epilepsy, mental disease, organ transplant and systolic and diastolic blood pressure at the time of admission to hospital were considered as potential predictors of mortality.
The model showed that age greater than 60 years, history of hypertension, history of lung disease and history of kidney disease were significant independent predictors of increased hospital mortality, in addition to strong independent effect of baseline severity on admission.
In patients less than 30 years of age, and those between 31 to 45 years of age, only severity of illness on admission was an independent predictor of mortality.
In the age group 46 to 60, and above 60, in addition to baseline severity of illness, history of hypertension and history of pulmonary disease were significant independent predictors of mortality. In addition to these, higher systolic BP on presentation was a predictor of mortality in the age group 46-60 years, and history of kidney disease was a predictor of mortality in age greater than 60 years.