The Relationship Between Death from Covid 19 and Chronic Diseases in Rafsanjan

Background:  morbidity and mortality due to Covid -19 are mainly related to age and comorbidity diseases (hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, malignancies, etc.).  These diseases are associated with poorer clinical outcomes and sometimes lead to long term hospitalization. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between coronavirus (COVID-19) mortality and various chronic diseases in patients admitted to Ali Ibn Abitaleb Hospital in Rafsanjan province-Iran, in 2020. Methods: In this retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study, patients with coronavirus (COVID-19) who had been referred to Ali Ibn Abitaleb Hospital in Rafsanjan from March 2020 to September 2020 were assessed. The data were collected using patientschr('39') records and telephone calls by a researcher-made checklist and analyzed by two sample t -test, chi square, fisher exact test, kaplan-meier plots, and multivariate regression using SPSS software version 20.   Results: In this study, 238 hospitalized patients with Covid 19   were assessed. The risk of death was significantly higher in patients over 75 years of age, so they were 5.5 times more likely to die than the youngest age group (P-value<0.001). Chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, lung disease and various cancers was more prevalent in patients who died than those who survived (P-value<=0.05). Of the patients who died, 73.8% had been transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU), while only 7.5% of surviving patients were transferred to ICU (P-value <0.001).  Longer hospitalization was associated with increased risk of death among patients with underlying diseases and hypertension (P-value <0.05). Conclusion: This study identified the role of chronic diseases and other important indicators in the survival of patients with Covid 19 in patients admitted to Rafsanjan. It is recommended that nurses and other members of the health care team consider these findings in the care of patients with Covid 19.