en Epidemiologic Studies Epidemiologic Studies مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Background and Objective:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="line-height:150%">COVID-19 is a serious disease with different symptoms and risk factors infecting and killing many people around the world. This study was performed to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 suspects referred to the hospitals and coronavirus treatment centers of Shahroud, Iran.</span></span><br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Materials and Methods:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="line-height:150%">Upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in Shahroud, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences launched a project to systematically record the demographic, clinical, and medical data of all suspects referred to the Corona Center. In this study, the data of 3945 suspected people collected during 5 months were analyzed. The RT-PCR test was used as the criterion for diagnosing the disease.</span></span><br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Results:</span></span></strong>&nbsp;<span style="line-height:150%"><span style="line-height:150%">Among 3945 suspected cases, 24.4% had positive RT-PCR test. The mean age of confirmed cases was 52.16 years. Dry cough <span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">and fever in addition to anorexia</span></span> were reported as the most common symptoms<span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">.</span></span> The results of logistic regression analysis showed that people over 60 years <span style="color:black">with </span>heart disease reduce the risk, while people over 60 years, diabetics, and obese people increase the risk of infection.</span></span><br> <strong new="" roman="" style="font-family: " times=""><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="background-color:#16a085;">Conclusion:</span></span>&nbsp;</strong><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="line-height:150%"><span style="background:white"><span style="color:black">These results necessitate further lines of research into different symptoms and risk factors to help identify COVID-19 cases earlier and start faster treatment</span></span>.</span></span></span></span></p> COVID-19, Demographic characteristics, Clinical characteristics, RT-PCR test 269 274 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-5807-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyedeh Solmaz Talebi talebi_solmaz@yahoo.com 5200319475328460073500 5200319475328460073500 No Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran Reza Chaman rezachaman@yahoo.com 5200319475328460073501 5200319475328460073501 No Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran Sepideh Mahdavi s.mahdavi88@gmail.com 5200319475328460073502 5200319475328460073502 No Clinical Research Development Unit, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran Mostafa Enayatrad mostafaenayatrad@gmail.com 5200319475328460073503 5200319475328460073503 No Clinical Research Development Unit, Bahar Hospital, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran Omid Garkaz omid.garkaz23@gmail.com 5200319475328460073504 5200319475328460073504 No Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran Ahmad Khosravi khosravi2000us@yahoo.com 5200319475328460073505 5200319475328460073505 No Ophthalmic Epidemiology Research Center, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran Fariba Zare faribazare.epid@gmail.com 5200319475328460073506 5200319475328460073506 No Center for Health Related Social and Behavioral Sciences Research, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran Morteza Kermani kermani1995@gmail.com 5200319475328460073507 5200319475328460073507 No Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran Marzieh Rohani-Rasaf rohani_marzieh@yahoo.com 5200319475328460073508 5200319475328460073508 Yes Dept. of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran