Hospital variations during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in a referral hospital in a low-to-middle-income country: a large single-center cohort study

Introduction: to date, few studies reported peak variations in COVID-19 infection in low-and middle-income countries. We aimed to explore the potential reasons for epidemiological changes with time. Methods: this study was conducted at a tertiary referral center in Cartagena, Colombia, between Marc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carmelo Dueñas-Castell, Wilfrido Coronell, Diana Borré-Naranjo, Amilkar Almanza, Leydis Lora Lián, Rafael Navarro, Jose Rojas-Suarez
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Universidad de Cartagena 2022-04-01
Series:Revista Ciencias Biomédicas
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Online Access:https://revistas.unicartagena.edu.co/index.php/cbiomedicas/article/view/3932
Description
Summary:Introduction: to date, few studies reported peak variations in COVID-19 infection in low-and middle-income countries. We aimed to explore the potential reasons for epidemiological changes with time. Methods: this study was conducted at a tertiary referral center in Cartagena, Colombia, between March 7, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Were included adult patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. We categorized the study period into two according to the peaks defined in Colombia: the first period included epidemiological weeks 10-35 (March 7, 2020 - August 30, 2020), and the second period included weeks 36-60 (September 1, 2020 - February 28, 2021). We adjusted the mortality by covariates to identify potential changes. Results: in total, 2761 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized. Comparing the two periods, the number of cases was higher during week 21 (peak1: 121 patients) and week 50 (peak2: 128 patients), respectively. The mortality rate declined from 16.5% (95% CI 13.3-19.8) in week 10 to 8.91 (CI 95% 6.95-10.8) in week 60 (p-value <0.001). Conclusions: our study is the first to report a one-year follow-up during the COVID-19 pandemic in a low-and middle-income country. We found a lower mortality rate during the second period, possibly explained by an increase in the experience and a better organization with health resources. 
ISSN:2215-7840
2389-7252