A cross-sectional pilot study on COVID-19 disease pattern, recovery status and effect of co-morbidities in Bangladesh

The COVID-19 disease has triggered the death of millions of people worldwide and has been the cause of 4,281 deaths in Bangladesh since 8th March 2020 till 31st August 2020. This cross-sectional study was aimed at discerning the pattern of COVID-19 among the people of this country the testing response, the recovery pattern of the patients and the effect of co-existing conditions on their recovery. An online questionnaire was made and distributed among 565 randomly selected patients for their responses and statistical analysis was performed on those responses. Each participant described multiple symptoms and the most frequently described symptoms were fever, cough and loss of smell (described by 446, 225 and 171 participants, respectively). The majority of the participants (47.16) received their test reports within 3 to 5 days whereas 27.01, 10.76 and 15.07% participants got their reports within 1-2 , 6-10  and in more than 10 days, respectively and their residence area did not affect this time interval in getting the report. Overall 90% recovery rate was found which was different in different age groups being lowest in the group of people aged 70 years or more. Recovery seemed to be influenced by educational level, but not influenced by gender, residence level or professional educational background. Co-morbidities increased the likelihood of getting the disease and some of them (diabetes, hypertension, kidney diseases, cancer and HIV) interfered with the normal recovery process. More extensive studies with larger sample sizes are needed to conclusively discern the COVID-19 disease pattern among Bangladeshi people.    Key words: COVID-19, cross-sectional study, sign and symptom, convalescent, co-morbidity, Bangladesh