Study area and setting
This study was conducted in Guder Hospital. Guder Hospital is one of the primary hospitals in West Shewa Zone which is located 126km from the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa to the western part. According to the arrangements put in place by the Federal Government, all patients of confirmed COVID-19 are admitted at a selected case treatment center (CTC). Guder Hospital is one of the selected CTC admitting those positive cases from the Western part of Oromia, Ethiopia.
Study design and period
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted retrospectively using secondary data of confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted to Guder Hospital from May 16, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The data were collected from January 15-20, 2021.
Study variables
Dependent variable: Outcome status of COVID-19 infection
Independent variables: The database includes socio-demographic variables, geographical location and time information, and clinical characteristics as variables
Sample size calculation and sampling techniques
All cases admitted to Guder Hospital who was diagnosed as having COVID-19 infection with RT-PCR diagnosis were included in this study from a database.
Data collection instrument and techniques
Data of confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted to Guder Hospital from May 16, 2020, to December 31, 2020, were collected from the database available at the hospital.
Data quality assurance
To ensure data quality, the database was checked for the variables it contains before the beginning of the data collection period. The collected data were checked for completeness, and the missing values were cleaned before data analysis. Missing data were checked from the patient charts. One-day orientation on the data collection tool and objective of the study was provided to the data collector and supervisor by the principal investigator.
Data analysis
All data of confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted during the study period and registered on the Microsoft excel database in the hospital were cleaned, exported, coded, and analyzed by person, place, and time by using SPSS version 22. Tables, figures, and texts were used to summarize the descriptive statics of the study. Mean and standard deviation were used for numerical data.
Operational definitions
Based on the WHO Interim Guidance for Public Health Surveillance for COVID-19 and International Guidelines for Certification and Classification[13, 14]:
Suspected case: A patient with acute respiratory illness (fever AND at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease (e.g., cough, shortness of breath), regardless of a history of travel to or residence in a location reporting community transmission of COVID -19 disease, or regardless of having contact history with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case, or Requiring hospitalization AND in the absence of an alternative diagnosis that fully explains the clinical presentation.
Confirmed case: A person with laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 infection, irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms
Death due to COVID-19: A COVID-19 death is defined for surveillance purposes as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness in a probable or confirmed COVID-19 case unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to COVID-19 disease (e.g. trauma). There should be no period of complete recovery between the illness and death.
Case-fatality rate (CFR): the percentage of persons diagnosed as having a specified disease who die as a result of that disease within a given period, usually expressed as a percentage (cases per 100).