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. 2021 Mar 3:14:875-886.
doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S294786. eCollection 2021.

Predictors of Hospitalization Among Older Adults with COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study of a Nationally Representative Sample

Fahad Alamri #  1 , Yousef Alsofayan  1 , Yazed AlRuthia #  2   3 , Ahmed Alahmari  1 , Yasir Almuzaini  1 , Fouad Abo Gazalah  4 , Faten Alradini  5 , Tareef Alaama  6 , Anas Khan  1   7
Affiliations

Predictors of Hospitalization Among Older Adults with COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study of a Nationally Representative Sample

Fahad Alamri et al. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. .

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to identify the predictors of hospitalization in older (≥60 years) patients with coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: Patients were randomly selected from a COVID-19 database maintained by the Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. All patients were aged ≥60 years, had reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19, and were registered in the database during March 2020 to July 2020. Medical and sociodemographic characteristics were retrieved from the database. Additional data were collected by telephone interviews conducted by trained health professionals. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the relationship between patient characteristics and the risk of hospitalization.

Results: Of the 613 included patients (51.1% females), more than half (57.3%) were between 60 to 69 years of age, and 53% (324/613) had been hospitalized. The independent predictors of hospitalization included age ≥65 years (OR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.66-3.33, P < 0.001), having more than one comorbidity (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.09-2.20, P = 0.01), diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.09-2.11, P = 0.01), hypertension (OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.007-1.97, P = 0.04), chronic kidney disease (OR = 3.87, 95% CI: 1.41-10.58, P = 0.008), and history of hospital admission within the preceding year (OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.11-2.55, P = 0.013). Risk of hospitalization was lower in males (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.43-0.90, P = 0.01) and in patients co-living with health care workers (OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.43-0.96, P = 0.03).

Conclusion: Factors associated with higher risk of COVID-19-associated hospitalization should be used in prioritizing older adults' admission. Future studies with more robust designs should be conducted to examine the risk of COVID-19-associated illness severity and mortality.

Keywords: COVID-19; Saudi Arabia; chronic kidney disease; diabetes; hospitalization; hypertension; older adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart showing patient recruitment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Rates of chronic health conditions among hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Rates of commonly reported symptoms in hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The rates of herbal and food supplements’ utilization among the study sample.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of some patients’ characteristics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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