Prevalence of somatic comorbidities among coronavirus disease 2019 patients in Croatia in the first pandemic wave: data from national public health databases

To determine the prevalence of common somatic comorbidities among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patients in Croatia in the first pandemic wave, and assess the differences in clinical outcomes depending on the presence of comorbidities. We analyzed data from patients confirmed to be SA...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Croatian medical journal Vol. 61; no. 6; pp. 518 - 524
Main Authors:	Capak, Krunoslav, Brkić-Biloš, Ivana, Kralj, Verica, Poljičanin, Tamara, Šekerija, Mario, Ivanko, Pero, Draušnik, Željka, Mihel, Sandra, Fuštin, Danijela, Cerovečki, Ivan, Švajda, Marija, Dimnjaković, Jelena, Sarajlić, Gordan, Benjak, Tomislav
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Croatia Sveuciliste U Zagrebu 01-12-2020 Croatian Medical Schools
Subjects:	Adult Aged Aged, 80 and over Cardiovascular Diseases - complications Comorbidity Control COVID-19 - complications COVID-19 - epidemiology Croatia - epidemiology Databases, Factual Diabetes Complications Epidemics Female Forecasts and trends Hospitalization Humans Kidney Diseases - complications Lung Diseases - complications Male Medical research Medicine, Experimental Middle Aged Neoplasms - complications Pandemics Prevalence Public Health Respiration, Artificial Risk Factors Croatia
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	To determine the prevalence of common somatic comorbidities among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patients in Croatia in the first pandemic wave, and assess the differences in clinical outcomes depending on the presence of comorbidities. We analyzed data from patients confirmed to be SARS-CoV-2-positive from February through May 2020. The data were obtained from clinical laboratories, primary health care providers, and hospitals. Previously recorded comorbidities, including diabetes, cancer, circulatory diseases, chronic pulmonary, and kidney disease, were analyzed. Among 2249 patients, 46.0% were men (median age 51 years; median disease duration 27 days). Hospitalization was required for 41.8% patients, mechanical ventilation for 2.5%, while 4.7% of all patients died. Patients who died were significantly older (median 82 vs 50 years, P<0.001) with a higher prevalence of all investigated comorbidities (all p's <0.001), more frequently required mechanical ventilation (34% vs 1%, P<0.001), and had shorter length of hospital stay (median 13 vs 27 days, P<0.001) with no sex preponderance. Patients requiring mechanical ventilation were significantly older (median age 70 vs 51 years, P<0.001), more frequently men (59.6% vs 45.7%, P=0.037), showed a higher prevalence of all comorbidities except ischemic heart and chronic kidney disease (all p's <0.001), and demonstrated a higher case-fatality rate (63.2% vs 3.2%, P<0.001). COVID-19 patients who died in the first pandemic wave in Croatia were more likely to suffer previous somatic comorbidities. This corroborates the findings of similar studies and calls for further research into the underlying disease mechanisms, hence providing ground for more efficient preventive measures.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0353-9504 1332-8166
DOI:	10.3325/CMJ.2020.61.518