Impact of Co-Morbidities on Mortality of Patients with Covid-19 Infection

Abstract

Introduction: The spread of the corona virus has been so swift and intense that since October of 2020. The first case of this viral infection was reported and diagnosed in December of 2019 and since then this disease has taken no time in turning into a worldwide pandemic. Aim: To assess the inter-relationship of comorbidities and mortality in patients infected with the coronavirus disease. Methodology: The method of this study included taking into consideration all individuals infected with the viral disease in the specific time period. This study focuses on achieving results against two outcomes: Mortality as a result of any cause within 30-days after the initial COVID-19 virus detection and severity index data (composite) containing hospitalization and mortality details. The logistic regressions model and Cox proportional hazards regression model were used to adapt the study being conducted to the socio-economic situation. The conclusions drawn from the study were also divided into age groups. A sum total of 200 individuals infected with COVID-19 were taken into consideration for this study. Half of these patients were assessed and were shown to have at least one other disease (comorbidity). These patients were followed up and the median time period for this follow-up assessment was 20 days. Study design: A Cross sectional study. Place and Duration: Isra University Hospital from 1st Feburary 2021 to 31st July 2021. Results: The results of this study showed that the participants of this study that one or more secondary illnesses (primary illness, in this case, being the coronavirus infection) had a higher chance of death via coronavirus as compared to individuals only infected by the viral infection. The study also brought to attention that as each number of comorbidities grew (for example, if a patient infected with COVID-19 was also assessed positive for hypertension and heart diseases, so did the chance for mortality; 2.14 times per comorbidity. The adverse impact of one or more comorbidities on people over the age of 50 is much more drastic (higher risk of death) as compared to people under than the said age group. Conclusion: This study has found that the presence of comorbidities in the considered individuals such as Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus and HIV were associated with severity in the coronavirus disease as well as a high risk of mortality.