Platelet Indices' Usefulness in Determining whether Patients with COVID-19 Should be Treated as an Outpatient or Inpatient: a Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the health system around the world. It is necessary to facilitate health care services with useful parameters in patient follow-up. In this study, we wanted to determine whether platelet indices can be used as an assistant parameter in the clinician's decision-making process regarding which of the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 should be treated by hospitalization.
METHODS: This retrospective study was performed in a secondary care hospital in Mugla, Turkey. Demographic information such as age, gender, and comorbidities of patients admitted to the emergency pandemic outpatient clinic within five months and diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as discharge, hospitalization, or intensive care needs (ICU), and thirty-day mortality were noted. Also, patients with platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), thrombocytocrit (PCT), MPV/PLT, MPV/PCT, PDW/PLT, PDW/PCT values for outpatient follow-up, hospitalization, intensive care unit need, and 30-day mortality relationships were examined.
RESULTS: A total of 93 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were included in the study. It was observed that those with comorbidity had a statistically significant higher rate of hospitalization (p = 0.013). No statistically significant difference was found between outpatients and inpatients in terms of PLT, MPV, PDW, PCT, MPV/PLT, MPV/ PCT, PDW/PLT, and PDW/PCT (p > 0.05 for each).
CONCLUSIONS: Platelet indices such as PLT, MPV, PDW, PCT, MPV/PLT, MPV/PCT, PDW/PLT, and PDW/PCT are not useful parameters for the clinician to distinguish between outpatient and inpatient treatment of patients with COVID-19.