Objective: Since the severity of symptoms affects the treatment option for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, the treatment pattern for mild to moderate non-ICU cases must be evaluated, particularly in the current scenario of mutation and variant strain for effective decision making.
Methods: The objective of retrospective analysis was to assess clinical and treatment outcomes in mild to moderate symptoms in non-ICU patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to major tertiary care hospitals in Al Baha, Saudi Arabia, between April and August 2020.
Results: A total of 811 people were admitted for COVID-19 treatment, age ranging from 14 to 66, diabetes mellitus (31%, n = 248) and hypertension (24%, n = 198) were the most common comorbid conditions. The hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) treated group (G1 n = 466) had an MD of 8 and an IQR of 5-13 for time in hospital with a 4.3% mortality rate, while the non-HCQ group (G2 n = 345) had an MD of 6 and an IQR of 3-11 for time in hospital with a 3.2% mortality rate. A combination of antiviral and antibiotic treatment was found to be effective, other most frequent intervention was analgesics 85.7%, anticoagulant 75%, minerals (Zinc 83% and Vit D3 82%).
Conclusions: The therapy and clinical outcomes from the past will be the guiding factor to treat the COVID variants infection in the future. Patients treated with HCQ had a higher mortality rate, whereas those who were given a non-HCQ combination had a greater clinical outcome profile.
Data availability: Data available on request due to ethical restrictions. The anonymized data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available to maintain privacy and adhere to guidelines of the ethics protocol.
Keywords: Antibiotics; COVID-19; Hydroxychloroquine; Mild infection; Saudi Arabia.
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