Fever and Cough are Two Important Factors in Identifying Patients with the Covid-19: A Meta-Analysis

Background and Aim: The most important clinical symptoms in patients with COVID-19 on admission at the hospital are fever and cough. The results of the studies show different levels of prevalence of these two symptoms in patients. The aim of this study was to coordinate the prevalence of fever and cough in patients with COVID-19. Methods: In this meta-analysis study, searching was performed on international databases of Embase, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science (ISI) between October 2019 to March 2020 with keywords, 2019-nCoV, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Fever and Cough. Random effects model was used for analysis and heterogeneity of studies with I2 index was investigated. Data were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (Version 2). Results: In a meta-analysis of 13 articles and 2131 cases, the overall prevalence of fever in patients with COVID-19 on admission at the hospital was 78.2% (95% CI: 65.4-87.2%) and the overall prevalence of cough in these patients was 54.9% (95% CI: 45.1-64.3%). The meta-regression showed that fever and cough increased with age and this difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the prevalence of fever and cough is high in identifying patients with COVID-19. Therefore, appropriate solutions should be put in place to improve the aforementioned situation, and to provide feedback to hospitals at all levels.