Serum Calcium and Vitamin D levels: Correlation with severity of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients in Royal Hospital, Oman.

INTRODUCTION Studies have revealed hypocalcemia and low vitamin D levels in severe covid-19 that warrant further research. OBJECTIVE Our study investigates the correlation between calcium levels at presentation as a primary endpoint and pre-existing calcium levels as a secondary endpoint to the severity of disease presentation and progression. METHOD Observational cohort study in adults admitted with COVID-19 from March utill September 2020. Multiple clinical scales and laboratory parameters were used to correlate corrected calcium and vitamin D associations with risk factors and outcomes. RESULTS Four hundred and forty five patients were included in the study. Hypocalcemic patients had more abnormal laboratory parameters and longer hospitalization duration. Hypocalcemia was in 60-75% of all age groups (p-value 0.053), for which 77.97% were ICU admissions (p-value 0.001) and 67.02% were diabetic (p-value 0.347). There were non-significant correlations between Vitamin D and almost all the parameters except for chronic respiratory diseases, which had a P-value of 0.024. CONCLUSION It can be concluded that hypocalcemia is a significant and reliable marker of disease severity and progression regardless of underlying comorbidities. Vitamin D levels fail to reflect correlation with severity of COVID-19 infections.