Recovery time from COVID-19 and its predictors among patients admitted to treatment centers in Southwest Ethiopia: multiple center retrospective cohort study

Aim Understanding the time to recover from COVID-19 is critical to determine the prognosis and foster future epidemic control strategies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the time to recovery from COVID-19 and its predictors among patients admitted to Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital and Tepi General Hospital treatment centers in southwest Ethiopia. Subject and methods A multi-center retrospective cohort study was conducted among 260 COVID-19 patients admitted to Mizan Tepi University Teaching Hospital and Tepi General Hospital treatment centers from August to November 2020. Data were collected from the patient’s records. Epi-Info version 7 was used for data entry, and data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 23. Kaplan–Meier analysis was used to estimate median recovery time, and the log-rank test was used to compare the estimated survival curve among different groups. Finally, Cox proportional hazard regression was used to determine independent predictors of the outcome variable. Results The overall recovery rate was 88.1%, and the median recovery time was 10 days. The survival curve among different groups of predictors such as travel history within 14 days and residence was significantly different. Cox proportional hazard regression shows age and the presence of comorbidity were found to be significant predictors of time to recovery. Patients > 40 years old were 31% less likely to recover from COVID-19 than patients < 25 years of age (aHR 0.69; 95% CI 0.48–0.99). Conclusion The overall recovery rate from COVID-19 was high, with a larger proportion of patients recovering quickly. Older age was an independent predictor of delayed recovery from COVID-19. Surprisingly, the absence of co-morbidity was found to be a significant determinant of delayed recovery time. Therefore, healthcare providers should give closer attention to patients with older age. Meanwhile, patients without comorbidity should also receive attention to prompt recovery from COVID-19.