Aim of Study: To explore the health condition of homecare patients infected with COVID-19, and to assess risk factors for their mortality.

Methods: Following a retrospective hospital-based research design, the data of 101 patients registered at the Homecare Department in the Armed Forces Hospitals of Southern Region (AFHSR), in Khamis Mushayt City, Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia, who were infected with COVID-19, were reviewed. A data collection sheet was designed and used for data collection.

Results: Most homecare patients were elderly. The mean±SD was 74.9±16.9 years. Females constituted 58.4% of patients. Almost half of the patients (47.5%) were admitted to the hospital. Almost tthree-quarters of homecare patients (72.3%) were hypertensive, 69.3% were diabetic and 36.6% had chronic kidney disease. Heart diseases included ischemic heart disease (16.8%), congestive heart ffailure (11.9%) and atrial fibrillation (10.9%). Neurological diseases included cerebrovascular accidents (19.8%), dementia (8.9%), and epilepsy (5%). Case fatality for COVID-19 among homecare patients was 26.7%. Case fatality was significantly higher among those who were hospitalized (p<0.001). Moreover, case fatality rates for COVID-19 among our patientswere significantly higher among patients with diabetes (p=0.002), cerebrovascular accidents (p=0.009) and those with epilepsy (p=0.017).

Conclusions: Most homecare patients infected with COVID-19 have associated comorbidity, mainly in the form of chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney, heart and neurological diseases. Case fatality rate due to COVID-19 among homecare patients is high, mainly due to their oldage and associated morbidity.

Recommendations: Case fatality due to COVID-19 among homecare patients can be minimized by prior assessment of the adequacy of home environment ffor the continuity of care, provision of health education to patients and their family members regarding the recommended health precautions.

Key words: COVID-19, Homecare, Case fatality rate, Comorbidity, Saudi Arabia.

Ali Mohammad Alqahtani from the Armed Forces Hospital Southern Region, Khamis Mushayte. He is the director of the home healthcare department at AFHSR. He is a trainer in the postgraduate family medicine training program at Khamis Mushayte. He has expertise in leading to continuous quality improvement and patient safety, FCM department got the JCI accreditation for Ahad Rufaidah FCM Center and he got it on April 2014, 2017, and 2020. He has a great interest in the home healthcare field, quality management, medical education, health management, chronic disease management & EBM. His future plan is to study further in those fields.