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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 60 million confirmed cases and approximately 1.5 million deaths all over the world as of December 1st, 2020. So it’s important to predict the clinical course of infected patients and to prevent the disease course from worsening with early intervention. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the new generation inflammation markers such as NLR, MPV and RDW in predicting the need for intensive care of COVID-19 patients. Methods: The retrospective cross-sectional study included 112 patients whose hemogram parameters were checked simultaneously with the diagnosis of COVID-19, hospitalized in public hospitals in Antalya province between March 16th and June 15th, 2020. Patients treated in the intensive care unit and treated only in the ward were compared according to laboratory data, and the predictive effect of study parameters on the need for intensive care was investigated. Results: Of the patients 43.8% were female and 56.3% were male. The average age was 49.48 ± 17.12 years. The percentage of patients admitted to the intensive care unit was 19.6% and, died was 5.4%. While MPV was found to be statistically significantly lower in COVID-19 patients who need intensive care, NLR and RDW were found to be statistically significantly higher. Decreased MPV and increased NLR were determined as independent risk factors for ICU admission. In addition, the optimal cut-off value was calculated as ≤ 10.4 for MPV (with 77.27% sensitivity and 66.67% specificity) and > 5.3 for NLR (with 72.73% sensitivity and 91.11% specificity) in predicting ICU admission. Conclusion: NLR, which is checked at the first admission in patients with suspected COVID-19, is an easy, fast, cheap and very valuable test in determining the severity of SARS-CoV2 infection and predicting the need for intensive care.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the demographic characteristics, clinical course, treatment, and outcome data of COVID-19 patients confirmed by laboratory tests in Antalya province according to age and the presence of comorbid diseases. Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional study included 438 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 as confirmed by PCR tests in Antalya between March 16th and June 15th, 2020. The study continued with 311 patients after exclusion of patients under the age of 18 as well as those with incomplete data and those receiving health care at private hospitals. The patients were divided into groups according to being under 65 years of age, with or without underlying comorbidities, with or without intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and were compared in terms of demographic characteristics, clinical course, treatment, and outcomes. Results: The study included 311 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 as confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests. The mean age was 47.48 ± 18.08 (min: 18, max: 94) years and 252 patients (81%) were under 65, while 52 patients (19%) were 65 and over years of age. Forty-five percent of the patients were women and 55% were men. Comorbidity, namely, hypertension (p<0.001), diabetes mellitus (p=0.010), chronic pulmonary diseases (p=0.001), and cardiovascular diseases (p<0.001) were significantly more common in geriatric patients compared to non-geriatric patients. Patients aged 65 and over, and patients with underlying comorbidities had significantly increased dyspnea, positive chest CT findings, ICU admission, mortality rates and hospitalization time compared to patients under 65 years of age and without comorbidities, respectively. Oseltamivir, favipiravir and levofloxacin were used significantly more in the treatment of geriatric patients and patients with underlying comorbidities. Being 65 and older was determined as a risk factor in univariate and multivariate models for both ICU admission and mortality. Conclusion: As a result, the need for intensive care and mortality rates have increased in COVID-19 patients who are older and/or have underlying comorbidities, indicating the necessity to take measures for preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, especially to patients who are older and/or have underlying comorbidities.