COMPARISON OF ROUTINE AND EXTENDED HEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS BETWEEN ICU AND NON-ICU COVID-19 PATIENTS IN KELANTAN, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first discovered in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and soon spread around the entire world. Abnormal hematological findings are thought to have a role in risk stratification and prognostication of COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study is to compare the hematological parameters between intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU patients to predict the disease severity. A cross sectional study involving 181 patients with Covid-19 positive were recruited and hematological parameters were compared between ICU and non-ICU patients. Those in the ICU mostly were in clinical staging stage 5 whereas non-ICU patients in clinical stage 1 to 4. Majority (42.5%) of the patients have any cytopenia with non has pancytopenia. There was significant difference in WBC count, neutrophil count, eosinophil count and immature granulocyte with p-value<0.05 between both groups whereas other parameters showed no significant difference. Hence, these parameters can be helpful in the prediction of patient’s outcome.