TY  - JOUR
AU  - Lami, Faris
AU  - Elfadul, Maisa
AU  - Rashak, Hiba
AU  - Al Nsour, Mohannad
AU  - Akhtar, Hashaam
AU  - Khader, Yousef
AU  - Hussein, Ahmed M
AU  - Naciri, Mariam
AU  - Samy, Sahar
AU  - Ghaleb, Yasser
AU  - Taha, Hana
AU  - Hussein, Alaa
AU  - Ali, Nameer A
AU  - Hussein, Raheem
AU  - Ikram, Aamer
AU  - Rahman, Fazal ur
AU  - Khan, Mohammad Mujeeb
AU  - Adam, Reema
AU  - Ahmed, Abdulrazaq Yusuf
AU  - Afifi, Salma
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/3/15
TI  - Risk Factors of COVID-19 Critical Outcomes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Multicountry Retrospective Study
JO  - JMIR Public Health Surveill
SP  - e32831
VL  - 8
IS  - 3
KW  - critical outcomes
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - severity
KW  - mortality
KW  - outcome
KW  - risk factor
KW  - retrospective
KW  - implementation
KW  - demographic
KW  - pattern
KW  - trend
KW  - risk
AB  - Background: The establishment of empirical evidence in the Eastern Mediterranean Region necessitates the implementation of wide-scale studies to describe the demographic, clinical features, and severity profile of patients with COVID-19. Objective: This study aims to assess the patterns of COVID-19 severity and mortality in seven countries, and to determine the risk factors of COVID-19 severity and mortality. Methods: This multicountry study was based on a retrospective review of medical records of hospitalized patients confirmed to have COVID-19. This study includes data from Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco, Egypt, and Yemen. All demographic and clinical data were extracted from hospital records (paper files) by trained data collectors. Results: A total of 4141 patients were included in this study from seven countries. Comorbidities were reported by nearly half of the patients, with hypertension (n=1021, 24.7%) and diabetes (n=939, 22.7%) being the most common. Older age, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and heart diseases were significantly associated with COVID-19 severity and mortality. Ever smoking and renal diseases were significantly associated with severity but not mortality, while male gender, respiratory diseases, and malignancy were significantly associated with mortality but not severity. Conclusions: The study confirms the role of comorbidities and demographic features on the severity and mortality of COVID-19. Understanding the contributing factors ensures attentive care and informs clinical management of patients with poorer prognoses in the early stages of diseases. 
SN  - 2369-2960
UR  - https://publichealth.jmir.org/2022/3/e32831
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/32831
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34736222
DO  - 10.2196/32831
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/32831
ER  -