bims-covirf 2021-08-08 papers

Issue of 2021–08–08
three papers selected by
Catherine Rycroft, BresMed

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 29. pii: 8008. [Epub ahead of print]18(15):

Factors Associated with Mortality among Elderly People in the COVID-19 Pandemic (SARS-CoV-2): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Vicente Paulo Alves, Francine Golghetto Casemiro, Bruno Gedeon de Araujo, Marcos André de Souza Lima, Rayssa Silva de Oliveira, Fernanda Tamires de Souza Fernandes, Ana Vitória Campos Gomes, Dario Gregori.

The objective of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the factors associated with the mortality of elderly Italians diagnosed with coronavirus who resided in institutions or who were hospitalized because of the disease.
METHODS: A systematic review following the recommendations of The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) was carried out, utilizing the PEO strategy, i.e., Population, Exposure and Outcome. In this case, the population was the elderly aged over 65 years old, the exposure referred to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the outcome was mortality. The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI/PubMed), Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases were used until 31 July 2020.
RESULTS: Five Italian studies were included in this meta-analysis, with the number of elderly people included varying between 18 and 1591 patients. The main morbidities presented by the elderly in the studies were dementia, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and hypertension.
CONCLUSIONS: The factors associated with the mortality of elderly Italian people diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 who lived in institutions or who were hospitalized because of the disease were evaluated. It was found that dementia, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and hypertension were the main diagnosed diseases for mortality in elderly people with COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; clinical features; institutionalized or hospitalized elderly; meta-analysis; non-communicable chronic diseases (NCCDs)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158008

BMC Public Health. 2021 08 04. 21(1): 1505

Obesity is associated with severe disease and mortality in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a meta-analysis.

Zixin Cai, Yan Yang, Jingjing Zhang.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to global research to predict those who are at greatest risk of developing severe disease and mortality. The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the associations between obesity and the severity of and mortality due to COVID-19.
METHODS: We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases for studies evaluating the associations of obesity with COVID-19. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random- or fixed-effects models. Meta-regression analyses were conducted to estimate regression coefficients.
RESULTS: Forty-six studies involving 625,153 patients were included. Compared with nonobese patients, obese patients had a significantly increased risk of infection. (OR 2.73, 95% CI 1.53-4.87; I2 = 96.8%), hospitalization (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.55-1.92; I2 = 47.4%), clinically severe disease (OR 3.81, 95% CI 1.97-7.35; I2 = 57.4%), mechanical ventilation (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.42-1.94; I2 = 41.3%), intensive care unit (ICU) admission (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.55-3.27; I2 = 71.5%), and mortality (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.29-2.01; I2 = 83.1%).
CONCLUSION: Patients with obesity may have a greater risk of infection, hospitalization, clinically severe disease, mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, and mortality due to COVID-19. Therefore, it is important to increase awareness of these associations with obesity in COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Mortality; Obesity; Predict; Severity

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11546-6

Acta Oncol. 2021 Aug 02. 1-7

Clinical characteristics and factors associated with COVID-19-related death and morbidity among hospitalized patients with cancer: a Swedish cohort study.

Helena Ullgren, Angela Camuto, Sumy Rosas, Simon Pahnke, Beatrice Ginman, Gunilla Enblad, Ingrid Glimelius, Per Fransson, Signe Friesland, Lisa L Liu.

INTRODUCTION: Cancer patients are considered to have a higher risk of dying and developing severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). To date, there are few studies including co-morbidities and sociodemographic factors when investigating the outcome of COVID-19 in a cohort of cancer patients. In this study, we analyzed cancer patients that have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in Sweden to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on mortality and morbidity.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively collected data on all patients with cancer that were hospitalized due to COVID-19-related symptoms at Uppsala University Hospital and Karolinska University Hospital between 1 March and 31 August 2020. The primary endpoint was COVID-19-related death and the secondary endpoint was to describe COVID-19 severity, defined as symptom severity (grades 0-4) and length of stay (LOS) at the university hospitals.
RESULTS: In total, 193 patients were included among which 31% died due to COVID-19 and 8% died of other causes. In a multivariable analysis, older age >70 (OR 3.6; 95% CI [1.8-7.3], p < 0.001) and male gender (OR 2.8 [1.4-5.8], p = 0.005) were factors associated with higher likelihood of COVID-19-related death. Several comorbidities ≥2 (OR 5.4 [2.0-14.3], p = 0.001) was independently associated with COVID-19 severity. Treatment with chemotherapy within 90 days prior to COVID-19 diagnosis were not associated with COVID-19-related death or severity.
CONCLUSION: Factors associated with higher likelihood of COVID-19-related death were older age and male gender. More severe COVID-19 symptoms were seen in patients with multiple comorbidities. We did not see any associations between COVID-19-related death or severity and recent treatment including chemotherapy. In summary, this supports a thorough assessment regarding potential risks with COVID-19 infection in patients with cancer, with a combination of individual risk factors in addition to cancer treatments.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cancer; chemotherapy; death; mortality

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0284186X.2021.1958005