Survival analysis of patients with COVID‑19 admitted at six hospitals in Uganda in 2021: a cohort study
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Archives of Public Health
Abstract
Assessing factors associated with mortality among COVID-19 patients could guide in developing context
relevant interventions to mitigate the risk. The study aimed to describe mortality and associated factors among
COVID-19 patients admitted at six health facilities in Uganda.
Methods: We reviewed medical records of patients admitted with COVID-19 between January 1st 2021 and December
31st 2021 in six hospitals in Uganda. Using Stata version 17.0, Kaplan Meier and Cox regression analyses were
performed to describe the time to death and estimate associations between various exposures and time to death.
Finally, accelerated failure time (AFT) models with a lognormal distribution were used to estimate corresponding
survival time ratios.
Results: Out of the 1040 study participants, 234 (22.5%: 95%CI 12.9 to 36.2%) died. The mortality rate was 30.7 deaths
per 1000 person days, 95% CI (26.9 to 35.0). The median survival time was 33 days, IQR (9–82). Factors associated with
time to COVID-19 death included; age ≥ 60 years [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 2.4, 95% CI: [1.7, 3.4]], having malaria
test at admission [aHR = 2.0, 95% CI:[1.0, 3.9]], a COVID-19 severity score of severe/critical [aHR = 6.7, 95% CI:[1.5, 29.1]]
and admission to a public hospital [aHR = 0.4, 95% CI:[0.3, 0.6]]. The survival time of patients aged 60 years or more
is estimated to be 63% shorter than that of patients aged less than 60 years [adjusted time ratio (aTR) 0.37, 95% CI
0.24, 0.56]. The survival time of patients admitted in public hospitals was 2.5 times that of patients admitted in private
hospitals [aTR 2.5 to 95%CI 1.6, 3.9]. Finally, patients with a severe or critical COVID-19 severity score had 87% shorter
survival time than those with a mild score [aTR 0.13, 95% CI 0.03, 0.56].
Conclusion: In-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients was high. Factors associated with shorter survival;
age ≥ 60 years, a COVID-19 severity score of severe or critical, and having malaria at admission. We therefore recommend close monitoring of COVID-19 patients that are elderly and also screening for malaria in COVID-19 admitted
patients.
Description
Keywords
COVID-19, Survival
Citation
Muyinda, A., Ingabire, P. M., Nakireka, S., Tumuhaise, C., Namulema, E., Bongomin, F., ... & Mukunya, D. (2022). Survival analysis of patients with COVID-19 admitted at six hospitals in Uganda in 2021: a cohort study. Archives of Public Health, 80(1), 233. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-022-00991-3