Elnaz Asghari - Department of Medical-surgical nursing, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery
Farnaz Rahmani - Research center of psychiatry and behavioral science
Mina Hosseinzadeh - Department of Community Health Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty
Nader Mahdavi - Department of Epidemiology, Student Research Committee, school of public Health
Anna Praskova - School of Health and Human Services
Shagayeq Targhaq - Department of Community Health Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty
Mohammad Khajehgoodari - Department of Medical-surgical nursing, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery

Background and Purpose COVID-۱۹ is a new infectious-disease first identified in December ۲۰۱۹ in China, and since it spread globally, it resulted in a Pandemic. Much research is needed to understand the disease, and especially its clinical characteristics. The aim of present study was to explore the clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of COVID-۱۹ in Tabriz, Iran. Materials and Methods This was a case series single center study that focused retrospectively on the clinical characteristics of ۱۴۰ early consecutive cases with confirmed COVID-۱۹, who were hospitalized at one of the referral hospitals for COVID-۱۹ patients of Tabriz, from March ۲۰ to May ۳, ۲۰۲۰. We used patients’ records to obtain the data, which were analyzed by SPSS Version ۱۶ using descriptive and analytic statistics (Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney’s, and Chi-square test). Results Findings showed that ۳۴ out of ۱۴۰ patients deceased. The highest percentage of patients were in the age range of ۶۵ years and over. The most common symptom on admission was dry-cough (۶۷.۹%), followed by shortness of breath (۵۵.۷%), and fever (۵۱.۵%). During hospitalization, ۲۷.۱% showed an increase in white-blood-cell count. Only ۲۰% were ventilated and others received oxygen by cannula, and/or mask. Recovered patients reported significant lower rates of pre-existing comorbid conditions than patients who died (p= .۰۲).  Conclusion This single center study with a relatively small sample size showed that the most common symptom on admission among patients with COVID-۱۹ was dry-cough, shortness of breath, and fever. The finding is mostly in accordance with the current evidence seen around the World.

COVID-۱۹, Respiratory Infection, Epidemiology, Clinical Characteristics