Main symptoms in patients presenting in the COVID-19 period

Abstract

Background The first case of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection was detected in Wuhan, fever and respiratory symptoms have been frequently reported in patients infected with this virus. Aim It was aimed to compare the symptoms of patients with COVID-19 positivity and patients without COVID-19 positivity hospitalized with suspicion of COVID-19. Methods Patients presenting to the Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital with suspicion of COVID-19 were included in the study. Samples were obtained from the patients and PCR tests were performed; the patients were grouped as COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative; these two groups were questioned for 15 symptoms and the results were compared. Results A total of 297 patients with suspicion of COVID-19 were included in the study. COVID-19 was positive in 143 patients and negative in 154 patients. The most common symptoms in the COVID-19 positive group were: cough (56.6%), weakness (56.6%), taste disorder (35.7%), myalgia (34.3%), and fever (33.6%); and in the COVID-19 negative group: cough (63%), weakness (45.5%), dyspnea (29.9%), headache (27.3%) and fever (24.7%). When these two groups were compared, taste disorder, smell disorder and diarrhea were significantly higher in the COVID-19 positive group (p = <0,00001, p = 0,00001 and p = 0,02). Conclusion Our study showed that taste and smell disorders and diarrhea were important markers in COVID-19 infection.