Amidst a time when there is the global pandemic of COVID-19 and high levels of stress and anxiety among people, it was pertinent to study if people have modified their health-seeking behavior. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was performed in Lahore to assess the change in behaviors of people before and during the pandemic. The results show that the health seeking behavior of the people has changed during the pandemic, resulting in an increased trend of self-medication and a decreased number of people visiting the hospital for their ailments. People preferred private health providers over the government facilities. This might be due to the misinformation, panic, and uncertainties spread by the social media. Governmental health care providers should consider these aspects while addressing the polices related to the pandemic.

Objective: To determine the frequency of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) and its underlying risk factors in patients with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). Methods: This retrospective study was conducted by reviewing the medical records of patients admitted in Covid-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Farooq Hospital, West Wood Branch, Lahore during the period from 1st April, 2020 to 30th June, 2020. COVID-19 was diagnosed on basis of Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) through nasal swab. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected at the time of admission in the hospital. AKI was diagnosed on basis of ≥ 0.3 mg/dl increase in serum Creatinine (sCr) from baseline during the hospital stay. The outcome of study was AKI. Results: One hundred and seventy-six patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were recruited of which most were males (78.4%). The mean age was 51.26 ± 15.20 years and the frequency of AKI was 51.1%. The risk factors for AKI were increasing age (OR=2.10, p=0.017); presence of COVID-19 symptoms (OR=6.62, p=0.004); prolonged hospital stay (OR=2.26, p=0.011); Diabetes Mellitus (OR=1.81, p=0.057); hypoxemia (OR=5.98, p=0.000); leukocytosis (OR=2.91, p=0.002); lymphopenia (OR=5.77, p=0.000); hypoalbuminemia (OR=4.94, p=0.000); elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) (OR=6.20, p=0.000) and raised D-diamers (OR=3.16, p=0.000). Conclusions: AKI was present in half of the COVID-19 patients. The most significant risk factors for AKI were increasing age, prolonged hospital stay, hypoxemia, hypoalbuminemia, DM and raised inflammatory markers. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.4.4980 How to cite this:Anees M, Farooq O, Raza M, Mumtaz A. Frequency and Risk Factors for Acute Kidney Injury in patients with COVID-19. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(4):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.4.4980 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objectives: To determine the risk factors for Hyponatremia in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Methods: Medical records of all patients admitted in COVID-19 Isolation Intensive Care Unit of Farooq Hospital Westwood Branch, Lahore from 1st July to 30th September, 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 by Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and having Hyponatremia (serum Sodium (s/Na+ <135mEq/L) were included, patients with Eunatremia (s/Na+ within 135 - 145mEq/L) were taken as control while subjects with Hypernatremia (s/Na+ >145mEq/L) at admission, incomplete medical records and pregnant females were excluded from the study. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data at time of admission in hospital was extracted. Results: Of 182 included patients, 79.1% (n=144) were male 40.7% (n=74) had Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and 44.5% (n=81) were hypertensive. Forty seven percent (n=86) patients had Hyponatremia while 52.7% (n=96) were eunatremic. Forty nine percent (n=90) patients had Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) and 4.9% (n=9) patients died. Risk factors for Hyponatremia were age >60 years (OR=2.52, p=0.006); DM (OR=2.79, p=0.001); Hypoxemia (OR=3.74, p<0.001); Lymphopenia (OR=7.62, p<0.009); Hypoalbuminemia (OR=9.15, p<0.001); high serum Ferritin (OR=4.46, p<0.001), high Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) (OR=3.58, p<0.001) and AKI (OR=3.40, p<0.001). Conclusions: Hyponatremia was common in COVID-19 hospitalized patients. Increasing age, DM, Hypoxemia, Hypoalbuminemia, high serum Ferritin and AKI were the most significant risk factors for Hyponatremia. Hyponatremic patients had comparatively higher mortality than Eunatremic patients. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.1.5466 How to cite this: Anees M, Raza M, Farooq O, Mumtaz A. Risk factors for Hyponatremia in COVID-19 hospitalised patients. Pak J Med Sci. 2023;39(1):274-279. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.39.1.5466 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objective: To determine the radiological parameters of COVID-19 patients based on CO-RADS classification and to compare the RT-PCR with chest CT. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study involved 180 participants who were hospitalised in COVID Unit of Farooq Hospital, West Wood, Lahore from April 2020 to July 2020. Data was collected from suspected COVID-19 patients who were subjected to CT chest and RT-PCR. SPSS version 22.0 was used to analyse the data. Frequency and percentages were calculated for categorical variables while mean and standard deviation was calculated for numerical veriables. Results: Of the total 180 patients, there was frequent manifestation of ground-glass opacities (GGOs) 168 (93%) followed by consolidation 121(67%) and reticulation/thickened interlobular septa 41 (23%) in radiological features of our study. Whereas, nodular lesions were completely absent. The highest number of patients 132 (73%) were in CO-RADS 5 classification. GGOs 126 (95%); and consolidations 93 (77%) were also highest in CO-RADS 5. Only 143(79%) of total RT-PCR tests were positive when compared with chest CT 158(88%). Conclusion: CO-RADS categorical assessment scheme indicates a significant prevalence of GGOs in COVID-19 patients. RT-PCR of most of the patients was negative at the time of admission but on radiological analysis they had positive CT findings suggestive of COVID-19.

Objective: The main objective of the current study was to identify clinical and laboratory parameters associated with hypoxemia in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was carried out in Farooq Hospital, West Wood, Lahore. A total of 188 COVID-19 positive patients admitted to the corona unit of our hospital were enrolled in this study. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed either by Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or clinical and imaging studies. Detailed demographic, clinical, laboratory and x-ray chest findings were recorded for each of these patients. Results: Age, number of days in the hospital, and hypertension were found to be significant. Lymphocytes, neutrophil counts, urea, and C- Reactive Protein (CRP) were significantly associated with oxygen saturation levels, less than 92% in COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: In this study, it was observed that hypoxemia was independently associated with clinical parameters and serum biomarkers. These may help/ guide in the clinical management of patients presenting with hypoxemia, particularly in a limited resource setting.