# COVID-19 acts like a stress test, uncovering the vulnerable part of the human body: a retrospective study of 1640 cases in China

## TL;DR

This study analyzed 1640 hospitalized COVID-19 cases in China to understand how age, gender, and medical history affect clinical outcomes.

## Contribution

The study identifies age, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and cancer as significant risk factors for severe clinical manifestations in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

## Key findings

- Age showed a significant difference in clinical presentations (P = .001).
- Hypertension, atherosclerosis, and cancer were significant hazard factors for severe outcomes.
- SARS-CoV-2 infection can worsen pre-existing conditions in specific organs.

## Abstract

Since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection exhibits multi-organ damage with diverse complications, the correlation between age, gender, medical history and clinical manifestations of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients was investigated.

1640 patients who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 and hospitalized at the First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University from 22 December 2022 to 1 March 2023 were categorized and analysed. Normal distribution test and variance homogeneity test were performed. Based on the test results, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis were conducted in the study.

According to the ANOVA, there was a significant difference in the age distribution (P = .001) between different clinical presentations, while gender did not (P = .06). And regression analysis showed that age, hypertension, atherosclerosis and cancer were significant hazard factors for the development of predominant clinical manifestations in patients hospitalized with novel COVID-19. Additionally, infection with SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to exacerbate the burden on specific diseased or related organs.

The elderly who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 ought to be treated with emphasis not only on antiviral therapy but also on individualized treatment that takes their medical history and comorbidities into account.