Thirty-Day Outcomes of Young and Middle-Aged Adults Admitted with Severe COVID-19 in Uganda: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Tonny Kyagambiddwa,1,&ast; Timothy Mwanje Kintu,1,&ast; Emmanuel Miiro,1,&ast; Franchesca Nabalamba,1 Gloria Suubi Asiimwe,1 Anne Marion Namutebi,2 Fardous C Abeya,3 Boniface A Lumori,3 Isaac Ijuka,4 Rose K Muhindo,1,3 Andrew Mutekanga,1,3 Richard Musinguzi,5 Francis Natuhwera,6 Joseph Ngonzi,1,7 Edwin Nuwagira3,8 1Faculty of Medicine, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda; 2Kabale Regional Referral Hospital, Kabale, Uganda; 3Department of Medicine, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda; 4Mayanja Memorial Hospital, Mbarara, Uganda; 5Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, Masaka, Uganda; 6Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, Fort Portal, Uganda; 7Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda; 8Tuberculosis Treatment Unit, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Mbarara, Uganda&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Tonny Kyagambiddwa; Edwin Nuwagira, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Tel +256782980116 ; +256779096887, Email tonnykyagambiddwa97@gmail.com; enuwagira@must.ac.ugBackground: There is scarcity of data regarding young and middle-aged adults hospitalized with severe Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa. In this study, we describe the clinical characteristics and 30-day survival among adults aged 18 to 49 years admitted with severe COVID-19 in Uganda.Methods: We reviewed treatment records of patients admitted with severe COVID-19 across five COVID-19 treatment units (CTU) in Uganda. We included individuals aged 18 to 49 years, who had a positive test or met the clinical criteria for COVID-19. We defined severe COVID-19 as having an oxygen saturation < 94%, lung infiltrates > 50% on imaging and presence of a co-morbidity that required admission in the CTU. Our main outcome was the 30-day survival from the time of admission. We used a Cox proportional hazards model to determine the factors asso