Length of Hospital Stay and Oseltamivir in Mild or Moderate Degree COVID-19 Patients in North Sumatra, Indonesia

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 is caused by a new strain of corona virus that affect the human respiratory tract. Aims: The aim of the study is to retrogressively review the use of antivirals on COVID-19 patients on their length of hospital stay (LoS) with mild and moderate degree of symptoms. Study design:  This cross-sectional study used medical records of confirmed COVID-19 patients, hospitalized, and achieved recovery during May-November 2020. Place and Duration of Study: Data were collected retrospectively at a General Hospital, Deli Serdang, North Sumatera, Indonesia. Methodology: Convenient sampling technique was used to select 185 patient’s results who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The result showed that Oseltamivir was the only antiviral agent prescribed for COVID-19 patients. Oseltamivir was given to 80% of the patients and no antiviral agents for the rest 20%. The median LoS of COVID-19 patients with Oseltamivir was 11 days (ranged 2-34 days), whereas of those without antiviral agent was 12 days (ranged 4-29 days) at p = 0.049.  Also, there were significant differences observed in group of mild and moderate degree with number of symptoms, i.e. less symptoms associated with less length of hospital stay (adjusted p=0.0003). In COVID-19 patients group with mild degree and one symptom, again, Oseltamivir treatment had shorter LoS (median 5, ranged 3-9 days) than those not on Oseltamivir treatment (median 12, ranged 6-20 days) at  p = 0.0725. In moderate degree of COVID-19 patients with one symptom who were treated with Oseltamivir, LOS shortened (median 5 days) when compared to those without oseltamivir (median 12 days) (p= 0.0342). Conclusion: In this study, the administration of oseltamivir was observed to shorten the length of stay of COVID-19 patients in the hospital.