Potential Risk Factors for Length of Hospitalization in COVID-19 Patients: A Cross-sectional Study

Identifying the potential risk factors of the length of stay in hospital (LOSH) in COVID-19 patients could help the health system meet future demand for hospital beds.

This study aimed to determine the factors affecting the length of stay in hospital in COVID-19 patients in Hamadan, the west of Iran.

This cross-sectional study recruited 512 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Hamadan city. Demographic, clinical, and medical laboratory characteristics of the patients and their survival status were assessed by a checklist. Univariate and multiple negative binomial regressions were used by Stata 12.

The median hospitalization length for COVID-19 patients was five days (range: 0 to 47). In the discharged patients, the adjusted incidence rate ratios (95% CI) of LOSH for females, rural residents, patients with a history of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, SPO2 less than 88%, prothrombin time higher than 13 s, platelet count lower than 130 × 1000 µL, blood sugar higher than 105 mg/dL, and intensive care unit experience were 1.16 (1.03, 1.44), 1.22 (1.03, 1.44), 1.43 (1.07, 1.92), 1.41 (1.23, 1.61), 0.82 (0.71, 0.93), 1.32 (1.11, 1.56), 1.18 (1.03, 1.36), and 1.85 (1.59, 2.17) compared to their references, respectively.

Our study added new insight into LOSH determining factors that could be used for future planning in combating the need for hospital beds. The present study revealed that some demographic, social, and clinical variables could increase the IRR of a more extended hospital stay.