Background: SARS-CoV-2 has had a variety of symptoms, from mild to acute respiratory distress syndrome or multiple organ failure.

Objective: To determine the epidemiological and clinical features of patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to non-intensive care unit (non-ICU) settings and to compare the results of liver function test (LFT) among different groups of non-ICU hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Materials and Methods: The retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Phayao Hospital, Thailand. Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted to non-ICU wards between November 2021 and March 2022 were included. Descriptive data were analyzed using mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range), Pearson’s chi-square test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results: Three hundred ninety-nine patients were included in the present study, with the median age of 30.2 years. Fifty-five percent of the patients were female, 45.9% had normal BMI, and 89% had no comorbidities. Common symptoms were non-productive cough in 62.4%, sore throat in 52.9%, and fever in 37.3%. Twenty-one patients (5.3%) were classified as Group 1, 311 patients (77.9%) were in Group 2, and 67 patients (16.8%) were in Group 3, according to the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand guidelines. Thirty-five percent of patients had LFT abnormalities on admission. Nine patients (2.2%) had chest X-ray abnormalities, of which five were found at the time of admission, and most had normal LFTs. Four patients who developed pulmonary infiltration during their hospital stay also had abnormal LFT afterward. No patients were transferred to the ICU, required vasopressors, needed mechanical ventilation during hospitalization, or died.

Conclusion: The authors’ study provides clinical and LFT data on hospitalized, non-ICU COVID-19 patients in a single university hospital. These results also represent epidemiological value and guidance for treatment in the current endemic area.

Keywords: COVID-19; Liver function test; Non-ICU hospitalized patients

DOI: 10.35755/jmedassocthai.2023.11.13906

Received 26 June 2023 | Revised 22 September 2023 | Accepted 26 September 2023