CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AT HOSPITAL ADMISSION OF 5382 PATIENTS POSITIVE FOR SARS-CoV-2: A SINGLE CENTER RETROSPECTIVE STUDY FROM CENTRAL NORTHERN BULGARIA

Purpose: To describe age- and sex-related differences in COVID-19 symptoms in patients admitted to emergency departments during the four waves of the pandemic in Central Northern Bulgaria Materials and methods: Retrospective analysis of data collected from 5382 outpatients with positive result for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR, admitted to 11 emergency departments in Central Northern Bulgaria, was carried out. Results: The median age of patients was 64 years, and 60.6% of them were old adults (≥ 60 years). Overall, more patients were males (51.8%) than females (48.2%). The most frequent symptoms were fever (84.8%), dyspnea (72.3%), and cough (69.9%) without significant difference in both sexes. Less common symptoms, such as sore throat, headache, loss of taste/smell, and fatigue, were found in 1.3% to 4.0% of patients and were more prevalent in women (p≤0.01). Fever remained constant, leading symptom in all ages. The incidence of cough and dyspnoea was less in young patients and showed an increase in middle-aged and old adults. Loss of taste and smell, muscle pain and fatigue displayed the opposite trend. For the leading symptoms, the male/female ratio was >1 in all age groups, whereas for all less common symptoms, this ratio was <1. Conclusions: Older age, male sex and cardiovascular disease were major risk factors for COVID-19 infection. Fever, dyspnoea and cough were the core symptoms and were more prevalent in men and in adult patients. The less common symptoms were more frequent in young people and women.