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Factors associated with time to recovery among COVID-19 patients in selected Zambian hospitals, 2020
Abstract
Background: It is important to understand the time and factors associated with recovery to help improve response to the COVID-19 healthcare-related challenges and also to enhance information management. As a result, proof of the length of time it takes to recover from COVID-19 is required to develop effective treatment and prevention approaches. This study estimated the duration to recovery and related parameters of COVID-19-infected patients in Zambia for cases diagnosed between March 18 and June 26, 2020.
Methods: The retrospective study examined 705 patients admitted to the fourteen COVID-19 isolation hospitals across Zambia. All COVID-19 tests used the RT-PCR of nasopharyngeal swabs. Recovery is operationally defined as a patient who presented a negative COVID-19 test on day 14 and was considered to have recovered. The Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian information criteria (BIC) were used to fit parametric models and pick the best predictive model.
Results: Median time to recovery in the quarantine facilities was found to be 12 days (IQR 10-17). Out of 705 patients, 535 (75.9%) recovered within the median days of 14 days while 170 (24.1%) did not recover within the 14 days. In the adjusted model, a year increase in age of patients delayed time to recovery by 0.4% (ATR: 1.004, 95%CI; 1.002, 1.007; p=0.001). Similarly, patients admitted with shortness of breath had a delayed time to recovery by a factor of 11.4% (ATR: 1.114, 95%CI; 1.018, 1.221; p=0.019) compared to those with no shortness of breath.
Conclusion: Age and shortness of breath at admission were associated with longer hospital stay among COVID-19 patients. These factors should be considered by program managers while making plans and policy recommendations for improved service delivery.
