Exploring the clinical implications of silent hypoxia in COVID-19

COVID-19 patients exhibit a diverse range of symptoms, with some individuals remaining entirely asymptomatic. Certain patients experience minimal or no noticeable symptoms, and in some cases, oxygen levels significantly drop without prominent clinical manifestations, a phenomenon is known as silent or happy hypoxia, which can potentially pose substantial risks to patients. A clinical study aims to assess the significance of silent hypoxia in COVID-19 patients’ clinical course and to predict risk factors associated with it. 85 confirmed COVID-19 patients with hypoxia were included in the study and exhibited room air oxygen saturation (SPO2) levels below 92%. Comprehensive patient histories and physical examinations were conducted, with the severity of breathlessness evaluated using a scale ranging from 0 to 10. Breathlessness scored below 5 was categorized as silent hypoxia. Various laboratory tests, including lymphocyte counts and serum ferritin levels, were performed. The findings of our investigation indicate that a majority of the patients in our study demonstrated favourable outcomes. Notably, no significant disparity was observed in terms of clinical outcomes between hypoxic and non-hypoxic COVID-19 patients (p 0.05). Risk factors identified including elevated body mass index (BMI), age, and increased respiratory rate (RR) are addressed in this work and diagnosed as risk factors. Silent hypoxia is a phenomenon observed among COVID-19 patients, yet it does not appear to impact patients’ clinical trajectories significantly. Obesity emerges as a potential risk factor for severe disease. High BMI and elevated RR are recognized as potential risk factors associated with the occurrence of silent hypoxia.