Abstract

This study was designed and implemented to analyze and establish documents related to the above cases in the first to third COVID-19 epidemic waves for the use of researchers and doctors during and after the epidemic. The current case series study was conducted on 24,563 thousand hospitalized COVID-19 patients by examining their clinical characteristics within a one-year period from the beginning of the pandemic on 02.22.2020 to 02.14.2021, which included the first to the third waves, based on gender and severity of COVID-19. The mean age of the participants was 56 ± 20.71, and 51.8 were male. Out of a total of 24,563 thousand hospitalized COVID-19 patients until February 2021, there were 2185 mortalities (9.8) and 2559 cases of severe COVID-19 (13.1). The median length of hospitalization from the time of admission to discharge or death in the hospital (IQR: 13–41) was estimated to be 21 days. The rate of hospital mortality was higher in severe (37.8) than in non-severe (4.8) cases of COVID-19, While the risk of severe cases increased significantly in the third (HR = 1.65, 95 CI: 1.46–1.87, P < 0.001) and early fourth waves (HR = 2.145, 95 CI: 1.7–2.71, P < 0.001). Also, the risk of contracting severe COVID-19 increased significantly in patients aged ≥ 65 years old (HR = 2.1, 95 CI 1.1.93–2.72, P < 0.001). As shown by the results, the rates of hospital mortality (9.3 vs. 8.5) and severe cases of COVID-19 (13.6 vs. 12.5) were higher among men than women (P < 0.01). In our study, the mortality rate and severity of COVID-19 were within the scope of global studies. Men experienced higher severity and mortality than women. The was a significantly higher prevalence of old age and underlying diseases in individuals with severe COVID-19. Our data also showed that patients with a previous history of COVID-19 had a more severe experience of COVID-19, while most of these patients were also significantly older and had an underlying disease. © 2023, The Author(s).