AbstractBackgroundAlthough the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to rage worldwide, clinical and laboratory studies of this disease have been limited in many countries. We investigated the epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory findings of COVID-19 infected patients to identify the effective indicators correlated with the disease.MethodsA retrospective study was conducted at King Abdullah Hospital in Bisha Province, Saudi Arabia, from March 20 to June 30, 2020. Patients of

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... different age groups were confirmed as having COVID-19 infection using a real-time polymerase chain reaction. The demographic, clinical, and laboratory data of the patients were statistically analyzed.ResultsOf the 137 patients, 88 were male and 49 were female, with a mean age of 49.3 years (SD±18.4). The patients were elderly (n=29), adults (n=103), and children (n=5). Of these, 54 (39.4%) had comorbidities, 24% were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and 12 (8.8%) died. On admission, the main clinical manifestations were fever (82.5%), cough (63.5%), shortness of breath (24.8%), chest pain (19.7%), and fatigue (18.2%).In all patients, increased neutrophils and decreased lymphocytes were observed. Patients' lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was elevated. C-reactive protein (CRP) was elevated in 46.7%, D-dimer in 41.6%, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in 39.4% of patients. The elderly showed higher neutrophil (p=0.003) and lower lymphocyte (p=0.001) counts than adults and children. Glucose, creatine kinase-MB, LDH, bilirubin, D-dimer, and ESR were significantly higher in the elderly than in the adults. The COVID-19 death group had a higher leucocyte count (p = 0.043), and higher urea (p=0.025) and potassium (p=0.026) than the recovered group but had a lower hemoglobin concentration (p=0.018). A significant association was determined between COVID-19 death (χ2(1)=17.751, p<0.001), and the presence of cardiovascular disease (χ2(1)=17.049, p<0.001), hypertension (χ2(1)=7.659, p=0.006), renal failure (χ2(1)=4.172, p<0.04), old age (t(135) = 4.747, p <0.001), and ICU admission (χ2(1) = 17.751 (1), p<0.001).ConclusionsThe common symptoms found in this study could be useful for identifying potential COVID-19 patients. Investigating some of the laboratory and clinical parameters could help assess the disease progression, risk of mortality, and follow up patients who could progress to a fatal condition.