AUTHOR=Nasoufidou Athina , Kavelidou Marianthi , Griva Theodora , Melikidou Eleni , Maskalidis Charalampos , Machaira Konstantina , Nikolaidou Barbara 

TITLE=Total severity score and age predict long-term hospitalization in COVID-19 pneumonia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1103701

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2023.1103701

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Severe COVID-19 pneumonia implies increased oxygen demands and length of hospitalization (LOS). We aimed to assess a possible correlation between LOS and COVID-19 patients' clinical laboratory data of admission, including the total severity score (TSS) from chest computed tomography (CT).</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Data were assessed retrospectively at the General Hospital “Agios Pavlos” in Greece. Clinical laboratory data, TSS, and LOS were recorded.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>A total of 317 patients, 136 women and 181 men, with a mean age of 66.58 ± 16.02 years were studied. Significant comorbidities were hypertension (56.5%), dyslipidemia (33.8%), type 2 diabetes mellitus (22.7%), coronary heart disease (12.9%), underlying pulmonary disease (10.1%), and malignancy (4.4%). Inpatient time was related to age (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), TSS (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), time from symptom onset to hospitalization (<italic>p</italic> = 0.006), inhaled oxygen fraction (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), fibrinogen (<italic>p</italic> = 0.024), d-dimers (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), and C-reactive protein (<italic>p</italic> = 0.025), as well as a history of hypertension (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.008). The multivariate analysis showed a significant association of the LOS with age (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and TSS (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) independent of the above-mentioned factors.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Early identification of disease severity using the TSS and patients' age could be useful for inpatient resource allocation and for maintaining vigilance for those requiring long-term hospitalizations.</p></sec>