Study Design and Participants
This case-control study was carried out from March 2021 to January 2022 on a total of 240 COVID-19 patients (120 patients eventually died after the study period and 120 patients were discharged) hospitalized in the ICU department of Razi hospital, Rasht, Iran. All patients required enteral nutrition according to the diagnosis of a specialist physician. Of these, some patients (n=121) as assessed by a dietitian, received the required nutritional support containing high protein, and high-volume formula following the latest medical guidelines. Also, 119 patients hospitalized in the ICU department of the same hospital received the standard formula.