Covid-19 and Gastrointestinal Manifestations in Indian Patients: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: India has the second highest number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the world after the USA with 29.3 million cases reported so far. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the clinical characteristics, comorbidities, and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients with special emphasis on Gastrointestinal (GI) manifestations.

Methods: In this meta-analysis, we conducted a systematic review of high-quality articles on confirmed COVID-19 cases in India published in PubMed and Google Scholar between February 2020 and March 2021. Statistical descriptive analysis and correlation analyses of symptoms, comorbidities and outcomes were performed.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 46.16 years. Of these, 67.53% were males. Overall, 6.4% patients died. Cough (37.79%) was the most common presenting symptom followed by fever (35.5%), nasal congestion, and rhinorrhea (23.60%) but, these symptoms were unrelated to outcome. Patients with shortness of breath (r = 0.69, p = 0.03) and fatigue/weakness (r = 0.95, p = 0.04) had high mortality. Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus were the most common comorbidities but were not associated with negative outcome. Preexisting chronic kidney disease (r = 0.80, p = 0.01), mechanical ventilation (r = 0.895, p = 0.003) and ICU admission (r = 0.845, p = 0.008) correlated with poor outcome. GI symptoms were reported in 12.05% of the patients. Nausea and vomiting were the most prevalent GI symptoms, but diarrhea (r = 0.95, p = 0.004) was associated with significant mortality.

Conclusion: Overall, COVID-19 patients in India present with cough, fever, shortness of breath and fatigue as the main symptoms. Among GI symptoms, diarrhea was associated with fatal outcomes. However, more high-quality studies are needed for better understanding of the GI manifestations and their outcomes in the Indian population.