Comorbidities in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scopus-Based Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Background Comorbidities attract enormous attention amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Mapping knowledge based on these clinical conditions is increasingly important since the pandemic is still raging and primarily affecting subjects with chronic diseases and comorbidities. Clinical presentation and complications of COVID-19 are still hot topics which are explored in numerous evidence-based publications. The aim of this study was to analyze Scopus-indexed COVID-19 papers covering comorbidities. Methods Searches through the Scopus database were performed on September 19, 2022 using the following keywords: “Diabetes mellitus” OR “Cardiovascular Diseases” OR “Rheumatic Diseases” OR “Obesity” OR “Malignancies” AND “COVID-19.” All retrieved articles were analyzed using the following categories: document type, authorship, keywords, journal, citation score, country of origin, and language. Using the software tool VOSviewer version 1.6.18, we visualized the network of authors and keywords co-occurrence of the most prevalent comorbidities reported in connection with COVID-19. Results Reports on COVID-19 and diabetes mellitus (DM) were most frequently published (n = 12,282). The US was the most productive country (n = 3,005) in the field of COVID-19 and comorbidities. There were 1,314 documents on COVID-19 and rheumatic diseases which is the least number in comparison with other comorbidities (COVID-19 and DM: 12,282, COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease: 9,911, COVID-19 and obesity: 7,070, and COVID-19 and malignancies: 1,758). Conclusion This mapping of COVID-19-related documents in connection with comorbidities may prioritize future research directions.

The Effect of Sodium–Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors on COVID-19 Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using the Common Data Model

“…Among those most affected are individuals with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or coronary artery disease [2,3]. Moreover, diabetic patients seem to be at greater risk of severe COVID-19 infection, compared to other chronic conditions [4]. COVID-19 exposure is associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, especially in patients requiring hospitalization and in the early post-infection period [5].…”