Associated risk factors with COVID-19 and mortality in District Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan; A cross-sectional study

Abstract

The novel COVID-19 is associated with so many other diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, chronic lungs disease, sore throat and flu resulting serious health complications. Thus, we aimed to find the associated risk factors, comorbidities and mortality rate due to COVID-19 in the Northern area of Pakistan. A self-designed data entry sheet was used to collect patients’ information. The study was conducted in Saidu group of teaching hospital in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Descriptive statistics and relevant analysis were calculated using SPSS software. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The current study involved 4057 subjects, with median age 42 years. COVID-19 was confirmed in 812 (20.01%) patients. The total death rate was 9.11% (74/812), with cardiovascular and diabetes being the most prevalent comorbidities 38 (4.7%) and 37 (4.6%), respectively, with a P-value of 0.001, followed by chronic lung disease (6 (0.7%) with a P-value of 0.013. The most common symptoms were cough 556 (68.5%), fever 573 (70.6%) and shortness of breath 209 (25.7%). We found that the mortality rate among patients was highest in older age. Those with comorbidities had a risk of fatality. These findings will assist the clinicians and healthcare providers to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates and combating the COVID-19 pandemic.