Abstract

FREIRE-CHAVEZ, Jorge L; CORDOVILLA-ZAMORA, Mónica J; SOLIS-ARAMAYO, Marco A  and  QUADRELLI, Silvia. COVID-19: initial clinical presentation and its correlation with the severity of the disease. Rev. am. med. respir. [online]. 2023, vol.23, n.1, pp.25-31. ISSN 1852-236X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.56538/ramr.dsvu8304.

Patients with COVID-19 have a broad spectrum of clinical presentations, and mortal ity rates are relatively high in severe cases. Early identification of risk factors that are related to the severity of the disease is of vital importance.

In order to correlate the initial symptoms of COVID-19 with disease severity, the present retrospective, cross-sectional, observational cohort study was conducted, including 413 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between January and March, 2021. Of all the initial symptoms that were studied, dyspnea (p < 001), fever (p 0.001), cough (p 0.002), odynophagia (p 0.01), headache (p 0.01), and gastrointestinal symptoms (p 0.03) were associated with the development of severe illness. The comorbidities that were associated with the worst prognoses were: arterial hypertension (p < 0.001), obesity (p < 0.001), COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) (p < 0.001), former smoking (p < 0.001), diabetes (p 0.01), previous cardiovascular disease (p 0.03), and active oncological disease (p 0.04).

In conclusion, patients diagnosed with COVID-19 whose initial manifestations include dyspnea, fever, cough, odynophagia, headache, and gastrointestinal symptoms should be closely monitored to prevent disease deterioration.

Keywords : SARS-CoV-2 infection; COVID-19; Clinical presentation; Severity.

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