Risk Factors for Mortality in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Study from the Republic of Guinea

Introduction: The Republic of Guinea, like other countries, has recorded cases of Covid-19 in all its health districts. The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with death in hospitalised patients.

Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional, analytical study conducted from March 2020 to November 2022, based on records of patients admitted to treatment centres for confirmed Covid-19. Data were collected from 28 out of 38 health districts of the country. A multivariate analysis was used to identify factors associated with risk for mortality.

Results: The study involved 37714 confirmed cases of covid-19. The mean age of the study patients was 37±15 and majority were males (67.34%). Sixty-one percent (61%) had had contact with a covid-19 patient prior to their diagnosis. The mean time to admission to the treatment centre was 2.94 ± 0.01 days. Dyspnea was the most common symptom (76.66%). The most common comorbidities were arterial hypertension (29.41%) and diabetes (22.34%). The average hospital stay was 20 ±0.05 days, with a case fatality rate of 1.23%. The main factors associated with death were age greater than 60 years [OR: 6.29 (95% CI: 4.86-8.15), p=0.000]; hospital stay greater than 2 days [OR: 2.67 (95% CI: 1.6-13.20), p=0.021], diabetes [OR: 2.00 (95% CI: 0.79-4.13), p=0.000]; and arterial hypertension [OR: 9.14 (95% CI: 2.48-9.47), p=0.000]

Conclusion: Taking better account of these factors associated with death, coupled with improving management capacity by raising the level of resuscitation facilities, will help to further reduce Covid-19-related mortality in Guinea.