2 MATERIAL AND METHOD
In this analytical study, the records of 824 patients with positive COVID-19 reverse-transcriptase polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) test result who received inpatient treatment between March 16, 2020, and December 1, 2020, at Ondokuz Mayıs University Medical Faculty Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Pregnant patients (n = 20) and patients younger than 18 years (n = 54) were not included in the study. Permission was obtained from the Ministry of Health for this study, and approval was obtained from the local ethics committee (decision number OMU KAEK 2021/730). The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
A confirmed case of COVID-19 was defined as a positive result for real-time RT-PCR assay for nasal and oropharyngeal swab specimens. SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV) RT-PCR Detection Kit (Bioeksen Bio-Speedy R&D Co, Ltd, Turkey) was used to demonstrate the presence of SARS-CoV-2. Patients were divided into four groups based on their disease status: those without comorbidities (Group 1), those with only CSD (Group 2), those with only cancer (Group 3) and those with both CSD and cancer (Group 4). CSD was recorded under the title of the relevant disease category and not separately. Patients’ demographic characteristics, CSD status, presence of cancer (solid and haematological), clinical symptoms, treatments used, biochemical parameters (counts of platelets, leucocytes and lymphocytes, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), clotting tests and levels of haemoglobin (Hb), lactic acid dehydrogenase (LDH), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, D-dimer and ferritin), need for intensive care, intubation, complications and survival were evaluated comparatively.