bims-covirf 2021-12-12 papers

Issue of 2021–12–12
three papers selected by
Catherine Rycroft, BresMed

Gerontol Geriatr Med. 2021 Jan-Dec;7:7 23337214211057392

Factors Associated for Mortality of Older People With COVID 19: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

H D W T Damayanthi, K I P Prabani, Ishanka Weerasekara.

Background: Whilst people of all ages are affected in some way by COVID-19 virus, older people are at a high mortality risk. This study aimed to systematically review the numerous factors associated with mortality among COVID-19 infected older people.
Method: PubMed and Science Direct were searched from inception to the April 15, 2021. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 statement and Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool to assess the methodological quality of the included studies.
Results: Of the 4957 studies identified, 20 were included in the qualitative analysis, while 10 were included in the quantitative analysis. Male sex (OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.23-3.99), age (over 75 years old) (OR = 3.36, 95% CI = 2.30-4.90), Dementia (OR = 3.69, 95% CI = 1.99-6.83) and Dyspnoea (OR = 3.16, 95% CI = 2.61-3.82), were found to be significantly associated with mortality. There is no significant association between Diabetes, or Hypertension.
Conclusion: Older age, male gender, dyspnoea and dementia were associated with a greater risk of death of older people from COVID-19 infection. These findings may help health care professionals to identify high-risk groups, facilitate appropriate remedial measures, and control mortality among older people.

Keywords: aging; community; gerontology; long-term care; nursing

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214211057392

Int J Epidemiol. 2021 Dec 11. pii: dyab254. [Epub ahead of print]

Smoking and severe illness in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Japan.

Yumi Matsushita, Tetsuji Yokoyama, Kayoko Hayakawa, Nobuaki Matsunaga, Hiroshi Ohtsu, Sho Saito, Mari Terada, Setsuko Suzuki, Shinichiro Morioka, Satoshi Kutsuna, Tetsuya Mizoue, Hisao Hara, Akio Kimura, Norio Ohmagari.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify associations between smoking status and the severity of COVID-19, using a large-scale data registry of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Japan (COVIREGI-JP), and to explore the reasons for the inconsistent results previously reported on this subject.
METHODS: The analysis included 17 666 COVID-19 inpatients aged 20-89 years (10 250 men and 7416 women). We graded the severity of COVID-19 (grades 0 to 5) according to the most intensive treatment required during hospitalization. The smoking status of severe grades 3/4/5 (invasive mechanical ventilation/extracorporeal membrane oxygenation/death) and separately of grade 5 (death) were compared with that of grade 0 (no oxygen, reference group) using multiple logistic regression. Results were expressed as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for age and other factors considering the potential intermediate effects of comorbidities.
RESULTS: Among men, former smoking significantly increased the risk of grade 3/4/5 and grade 5, using grade 0 as a reference group, with age- and admission-date-adjusted ORs (95% CI) of 1.51 (1.18-1.93) and 1.65 (1.22-2.24), respectively. An additional adjustment for comorbidities weakened the ORs. Similar results were seen for women. Current smoking did not significantly increase the risk of grade 3/4/5 and grade 5 in either sex.
CONCLUSIONS: The severity of COVID-19 was not associated with current or former smoking per se but with the comorbidities caused by smoking. Thus, smoking cessation is likely to be a key factor for preventing smoking-related disease and hence for reducing the risk of severe COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; infectious disease; smoking

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyab254

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2021 Dec 09. 1-11

Association between vitamin D status and risk of covid-19 in-hospital mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

Armin Ebrahimzadeh, Shokouh Mohseni, Behnaz Narimani, Anahita Ebrahimzadeh, Soroosh Kazemi, Fatemeh Keshavarz, Mohammad Javad Yaghoubi, Alireza Milajerdi.

Some earlier studies reported higher risk of COVID-19 mortality in patients with vitamin D deficiency, while some others failed to find such as association. Due to inconsistences between earlier meta-analyses and needs for an updated study, we conducted current systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between vitamin D status and risk of COVID-19 in-hospital mortality among observational studies. We searched PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science up to 27 July 2021. We conduct our systematic review and meta-analysis in according to PRISM statement. Two authors independently screened studies and extracted data from the relevant ones. All types of observational studies about the association between vitamin D status and in hospital COVID-19 mortality were included. Data was pooled using a random-effect model. P-values ˂ 0.05 was assumed as statistically significant. We identified 13 observational studies. Pooling 9 studies which categorized vitamin D level, a significant positive relationship was found between vitamin D deficiency and risk of COVID-19 in-hospital mortality (Odds Ratio (OR): 2.11; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.03, 4.32). All subgroup analyses also showed significant relationship between vitamin D deficiency and risk of COVID-19 in-hospital mortality. In the other analysis, pooling data from 5 studies in which vitamin D level was entered as a continues variable, we found an inverse significant association between each unit increment in serum vitamin D concentrations and risk of COVID-19 in-hospital mortality (OR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.89, 0.99). We found a significant direct association between vitamin D deficiency and elevated risk of COVID-19 in-hospital mortality. Moreover, each unit increment in serum vitamin D levels was associated to significant reduction in risk of COVID-19 mortality. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Keywords: COVID-19; meta-analysis; mortality; vitamin D

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2021.2012419