HEMATOLOGIC PARAMETERS AS PREDICTOR OF COVID-19 SEVERITY

Abstract

Introduction: To this day, COVID-19 still cause high mortality and morbidity in most cases. The severity of COVID-19 can be detected by simple tests such as complete blood counts which available in most health facilities. Through early detection of the estimated severity of COVID-19, we may determine which patients need hospitalization or patients sufficient with self-isolation. Methods: We conduct an analytical, cross-sectional, retrospective study that analyzed the hematological parameters of 97 patients with positive rRT-PCR swabs in the period of March to August 2020. Hematologic parameters of COVID 19 patients with mild and moderate-severe symptoms were compared. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under the curve (AUC), and Youden's index were created to determine the optimal cut-off value in predicting the degree of severity of COVID-19 patients. Results: Statistically significant differences (p <0.05) were found in the hematological parameters of neutrophils, NLR, PLR, MLR, ALC, lymphocyte, eosinophil, SGOT, SGPT, CRP, and calcium. SGPT parameter had the highest sensitivity value (94.4%), MLR had the highest specificity value (84.5%), and Hs-CRP had the highest AUC value (AUC 0.789). Conclusion: Certain hematological parameters may assist in early detection of the severity of a COVID-19 patient. Our findings may be useful to determine whether the patient requires hospitalization or self-isolation.