Epidemiological Characteristics of COVID-19 Patients in Mazandaran, Iran, 2021

Background: COVID-19 continues to pose a significant healthcare challenge throughout the world. This study aimed to investigate epidemiological characteristics and associated mortality factors among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the Mazandaran province. Materials Methods: In this descriptive study, the medical information of patients admitted to 39 hospitals in 17 cities in Mazandaran province between February 20, 2020, and February 20, 2021, were initially assessed and then entered the survey based on the study criteria. For data analysis, statistical approaches such as Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test were performed at a significance level of 5%. Results: Out of the initial 34036 patients total patients, 21007 were included in the study with a mean age of 53.75±18.23 years, and 10219(48.6%) were males. The majority of cases and the highest mortality percent belonged to the age groups of 60 to 70 and 70 to 80. The Mortality proportion was 11.6% (n=2431), with a higher value in males than females. Moreover, the highest mortality rate was seen in ICU  (n=2803, 85.7%). Underlying diseases with the highest mortality rate were diabetes  (n=2058, 43%) and chronic heart disease  (n=166, 6.83%). The most common symptoms of illness were fever  (n=9025, 43%), hemoptysis  (n=5911, 28.10%), sore throat  (n=3771, 18%), and low blood pressure  (n=3626, 17.30%). Conclusion: This study showed a high mortality rate among COVID-19 cases and dissected the related risk factors, including age, gender, underlying diseases, and ICU admission.