Predictors of COVID-19 mortality at 30 days of hospitalisation in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly the city of Goma (North Kivu). The effective crude fatality ratio in the DRC was 1.93%, while in Goma it was 7.4%. This study determined the apparent crude fatality ratio in the COVID-19 treatment centre and identified the predictors of COVID-19-related deaths within 30 days of hospitalisation in the city of Goma. Methods: A historical cohort study was conducted on patients hospitalised for COVID-19 in Goma’s COVID-19 Treatment Centres with self-medication as the exposure factor. The minimum calculated sample size was 356 individuals. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed by RT-PCR, and the WHO definition was used for confirmed deaths. Cox regression identified independent predictors of COVID-19 death in Goma. We included 400 medical records of hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Results: The apparent crude fatality ratio was significantly higher in hospitalised patients exposed to self-medication at 50% (95% CI:32.06%-67.94%) compared to 20% (95% CI:16.19%-24.55%, p=value