Serum Cortisol May Serve as a Novel Predictor of Hospital Length of Stay for COVID-19 Patients.

Objective: There are several clinical outcomes associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, including pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and death. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether serum cortisol levels affect COVID-19 prognosis. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted with COVID-19 pneumonia patients hospitalized in an internal medicine clinic at the Haseki Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul from March 13 to May 31, 2020. Demographics, laboratory test results, and clinical outcomes of the patients were recorded. The patients were divided into two groups based on whether they were hospitalized for 1-9 days or =10 days. Both groups were classified according to their average age and duration of hospitalization/discharge, and laboratory parameters were analyzed. Results: This study was conducted on 129 COVID-19 pneumonia patients, 13 of whom died during the study period. The mean age was 68.7±10.9 years for nonsurvivors and 55.7±15.9 years for survivors (p=0.001). Serum cortisol levels were significantly elevated in patients with a long hospital stay. While there was no significant difference in the hemogram or biochemical parameters of the two groups, correlation analysis showed a close relationship between serum cortisol levels and length of hospitalization. Conclusion: Cortisol is a reliable predictor of the length of hospital stay and prognosis of COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]