Objective: To clarify the clinical and medical expense characteristics of COVID-19. Methods: : In this retrospective, single-center study, 55 cured cases with confirmed COVID-19 were analyzed for demographic, epidemiological, clinical, and radiological features and medical expense data. Results: : The average age of the 54 successfully treated patients with COVID-19 was 53.2 years old (SD 19.0), including 27 men and 27 women. Off this, 31 (57.4%) patients had chronic diseases. Patients commonly had clinical manifestations of fever (45 [83.3%] patients), cough (29[54.7%] patients), expectoration (28 [51.9%] patients), fatigue (24[44.4%] patients) and diarrhea (8[14.8%] patients) on admission. There was a 10-day interval from the onset of signs and symptoms to hospital admission. About 80% of them got recovery after a two-week treatment. The mean interval from the onset of signs and symptoms to hospital discharge was 20.5 (IQR 16-29) days. The median total medical expense of the treated patient, in general, was 2579.6 (IQR 1366.1-4837.6) U.S. dollars. Still, the median medical expense was 8904.1 (IQR 6660.1- 27143.8) U.S. dollars in patients with more than five comorbid illnesses during the treatment. Conclusion: There is a 3-week interval from the onset of signs and symptoms to cure, and most hospitalized patients get recovery within two weeks. The total medical expense of cases with more than five comorbid conditions during the treatment is higher. Quite a few COVID-19 cases with other serious diseases are likely to account for most of the total medical expenses.
Clinical characteristics and health care cost among patients successfully treated for COVID-19 in Henan, China: A Descriptive Study