Data analysis:
We divided all suspected patients into the control and case groups based
on RT-PCR test results. The case group included the suspected patients
with a positive RT-PCR result, and the control group consisted of
patients with a negative RT-PCR result. Continuous and categorical
variables were compared using t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Chi square
test, cross tabulation between RT-PCR positive and negative groups,
respectively. The data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD)
and median, interquartile range (IQR) in continuous variables and
frequency (percentage) in categorical data. The SPSS software version
22.0 was used for statistical analysis and P<0.05 was
considered statistically significant.