Date Published: 13/11/2020
ARCHIVED - Coronavirus study identifies the symptoms most commonly associated with fatalities
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Patients with only coughing, fever and breathing difficulty are those most at risk among hospital admissions
For those involved in the medical professions this year has been one of rapid learning and adaptation to the coronavirus pandemic, and little by little more is being learnt about Covid-19 and how treatments can be modified and improved in the future to reduce the mortality rate among patients admitted to hospital.
One of the most recently published studies has been carried out by the Spanish Internal Medicine Society (SEMI), who have made progress in identifying which patients are those with the poorest prognosis according to an analysis of their symptoms. At the same time, of course, it is hoped that the analysis of symptoms will eventually make it possible to identify patients who are most likely to suffer only relatively mild discomfort as the infection develops.
The conclusion reached by the SEMI is that the prognosis is worst for patients whose only symptoms are coughing, fever and dyspnea (difficulty in breathing), while those who complain of symptoms similar to those of a common cold and a loss of smell and taste are more likely to come through the infection more rapidly and with less treatment required.
Four symptom groups among hospital patients
These conclusions were drawn from a study of over 12,000 Covid patients in hospitals in Spain, and in broad terms it has been possible to sort them into 4 groups. The most at-risk of these groups accounted for the majority of those included in the sample, and generally presented only fever, coughing and dyspnea as their symptoms: at the same time, most of them were male and the presence of other medical conditions was a common factor.
As their conditions developed 10 per cent of patients in this group required intensive care, and a quarter eventually died.
On the other hand, another 1,196 patients were grouped together as presenting additional symptoms such as the loss of smell and taste, sometimes alongside fever, coughing and dyspnea. Those in this group were the least likely to be admitted to intensive care units and presented the lowest mortality rate (4.3 per cent).
The other two groups identified were those who complained of pains in their joints and muscles (7.3 per cent of the patients studied), 10.8 per cent of whom were admitted to intensive care and 14.7 per cent of whom died, and finally those who also presented diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pains among their symptoms. Among this last group only 8.5 per cent were admitted to intensive care but 18.6 per cent died, the second highest mortality rate among the four groups.
It is worth reiterating that these groups all consisted of those admitted to hospital for treatment: the majority of people testing positive do not require admission.
The study also found that the most common symptoms among Covid patients in hospital were fever (85.7%), coughing (75.8%), dyspnea (59.7%), arthromyalgia (31.4%), diarrhoea (24.4%), headaches (11.6%), sore throat (9.9%), loss of taste (8.2%), vomiting (7.4%), loss of smell (7.3%) and abdominal pains (6.1%). 58.5 per cent of the patients included in the study were male, with an average age of 67, and the most common previously existing conditions they shared were high blood pressure (50%), hyperlipidemia (39.4%) and diabetes mellitus (19.2%).
On average, 6.7 days passed between the onset of symptoms and admission to hospital, and the presence of fever, coughing and dyspnea was common to all four sub-groups identified.