High in-hospital mortality due to COVID-19 in a community hospital in Spain: a prospective observational study

Background To describe the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with COVID-19 in a community hospital in Spain Methods Prospective, single-centre case series of the rst 100 consecutive hospitalized patients with COVID-19 at a community hospital in Spain, from March 16 to April 20, 2020. Demographics, comorbidities, clinical presentation, radiologic and laboratory ndings, treatment and clinical outcome were collected. Results Of the 100 patients included in the study, the median age (IQR; range) was 75 years (20; 28-96) and 52% were men. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (63%), diabetes (22%) and cardiovascular diseases (28%). The most common symptoms were fever (80%), cough (69%), fatigue (59%) and dyspnea (52%) and 64% had respiratory insu ciency. Bilateral interstitial in ltrates (65/100, 65%) and bilateral vertical "B-kerley" lines (38/46, 82.6%) were the most common imaging manifestations in chest radiographs and lung ultrasound, respectively. All patients received supplementary oxygen, 69 (69%) received medical treatment (the most common regimen being hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin in 66 patients) and 12% were treated with glucocorticoids. During hospitalization, 26 patients (26%) died, 10 (10%) were transferred to ICU and 64 (64%) were discharged at home. Mortality or ICU admission was more frequent in advanced age and with comorbidities. Conclusions This case series provides clinical characteristics and outcome of consecutively hospitalized patients with COVID-19 admitted to a community hospital in Spain. The majority were old patients, with comorbidities and in-hospital mortality was high (26%).