Comparison of Clinical Characteristics in Adult Patients Under 65 years
of age with and without Covid 19 pneumonia
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) can cause asymptomatic,
mild upper respiratory tract symptoms, pneumonia in young persons. How
the disease will progress in each patient is still unknown. Therefore,
we aimed to investigate the prognostic markers of the development of
pneumonia and the clinical characteristics of patients under 65 years
with COVID-19 confirmed by a positive reverse transcriptase polymerase
chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. Method: In this retrospective study, a
total of 271 patients admitted in our unit were included. The patients
were divided into two groups, those who did or did not develop
pneumonia. Their clinical features, treatment protocols and laboratory
parameters were recorded retrospectively. Results: Pneumonia developed
in 67.9% (n = 184) of the cases. Age in the pneumonia group was higher
than in the non-pneumonia group (p < 0.001). In the logistic
regression analysis, when symptom and comorbidity status were examined
according to the presence of pneumonia; HT (OR: 4,525 95% CL:
1,494–13,708) were the most important risk factor for pneumonia. When
age and laboratory values were examined according to the presence of
pneumonia, advanced age (OR: 1.042 95% CL: 1.01–1.073), low albumin
(OR: 0.917 95% CL: 0.854–0.986) and high troponin (OR: 1.291 95% CL:
1.044–1.596) were identified as risk factors for pneumonia. Conclusion:
HT, older age, low albumin, high troponin were important factors for
predicting COVID-19 pneumonia in patients under 65 years of age. Young
patients with these predictive factors should be more carefully
evaluated by further diagnostic procedures, such as thoracic CT. Key
Words: COVID-19, pneumonia, young adults