Utility of Walk Tests in the Progression of Mild COVID-19 Infection at a Tertiary Hospital in North India

Introduction: There have been 214 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with a total death tally of 4.4 million. The current study aims to determine the predictive value of various scores in the assessment of progression of mild COVID-19 infection at a tertiary care hospital in North India. Methods: The study population consisted of adults (age more than 18 years) with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 by RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal specimens. Patients with only mild illness were enrolled. After the patients were admitted to the isolation ward, the presenting history, comorbidity status, vital signs and laboratory parameters were recorded. The 3 and 6 minutes walk test was performed daily from admission till discharge or progression of the severity of COVID- 19, and it was used to calculate Borg Dyspnoea Score (BDS) and National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) scores. Results: Our study consisted of 50 patients with 34 (68%) males, and the mean (SD) age of the patient population was 28.1 (6.4) years. The most common symptoms were fever, sore throat, and cough. All laboratory parameters were within normal ranges for all the patients. 96% recovered without progression, while only 4% of them progressed to moderate illness. Results of the 3 and 6 minutes walk tests, BDS and NEWS2 scores showed improvement over the course of the hospital stay. Conclusion: Although the walk tests and the scores improved over time, they failed to predict the disease progression.