Abstract:
Background: The world was faced an unprecedented health crisis caused by the pandemic novel
coronavirus SARS COVID-19. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) affected peoples throughout the
globe and a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of people. The disease had a higher
transmission rate and a greater risk of morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess survival
status and predictors of mortality among patients hospitalized with COVID -19 attending at Holeta
Hospital, Oromia, Ethiopia.
Objective: To assess Survival status and the predictor of death among patients with COVID 19
admitted to a Holeta Hospital, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2024
Methods: A facility-based retrospective cohort study was conducted on 180 patients among 374
COVID-19 patients attending Holeta Hospital from June 21, 2020 to February, 2022. Patient
charts/records was selected using a systematic random sampling method. The collected data was
entered using Epi-data 7.2 and exported to SPSS Version 26 for analysis. A Kaplan Meier survivor
curve was computed to estimate the survival probabilities. A Long-rank test was used to compare
the difference in survival curves between categories of covariates. Cox Proportional Regression
Model was used to identify independent predictors of survival status. In bivariable analysis, P
value ≤ 0.25 was used to identify candidate variables for multivariable analysis. The 95% CI of
hazard ratio (HR) with respective P-value <0.05 was used to declare significance in the final
model.
Result: A total of 180 study participants were followed during the median survival time of 6 days
(IQR 8 in days). The overall incidence rate of death was 11.8 cases per 1000 person days (95%
CI: 10.82, 13.14). The Cox Proportional Hazard regression model analysis showed that male sex
(AHR=3.04, 95%CI: 1.61, 5.74), shortness of breathing as clinical characteristics (AHR=1.622,
95%CI: 1.015, 2.593), Asthma as pre-existing co-morbidity (AHR=2.077, 95%CI: 1.015, 4.251),
severe status of COVID-19 at admission (AHR=1.710, 95%CI: 1.100, 2.657) were significant
predictors of high mortality rate from COVID-19.
Conclusion and Recommendation: The overall incidence rate of death was 11.8 cases per 1000
person days. The independent predictors were male sex, shortness of breathing, Asthma as
comorbidity and severe form of COVID-19 during admission. Therefore, health workers should
focus on COVID-19 patients having shortness of breathing, Asthma as co-morbidity, severe form
of COVID-19 during admission and design interventions accordingly to enhance the survival of
COVID-19 patients.
