In first phase of Covid, younger patients with co-morbidities were at higher risk of severe infection: Study
A retrospective study on the association of underlying co-morbidities with Covid progression and mortality in a Delhi hospital found that in the first phase of the outbreak, younger patients with co-morbidities were at a higher risk of mortality.
This study was conducted by researchers at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on 2,586 patients hospitalised for Covid from April 8, 2020, to October 4, 2020, to observe the association of diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease on the prognosis and mortality of the Covid infection. The study was published in the journal ‘Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry’ on June 25.
“The analysis of relative risk of the severity of Covid-19 shows that younger patients with underlying co-morbidities are relatively at higher risk of severity of Covid-19 infection compared to the elderly patients with similar underlying condition except for diabetes where the relative risk of ICU admission amongst patients with age less than 60 years is comparatively lower but almost similar to the patients with age equal to or above 60 years,” states the study.
It also states that chronic kidney disease was found to be the most susceptible to death outcome in Covid patients, followed by hypertension and diabetes.
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“On comparing the impact of multiple co-morbidities with the severity of Covid-19 infection, it was found that presence of co-morbidity poses greater risk of ICU admission. As the number of comorbidities increased, the risk of severity of Covid-19 infection also increases significantly,” said Dr D S Rana, one of the authors of the study and chairperson of the hospital’s department of Renal Sciences.
Out of 2,586 patients, 779 or 30.1% needed ICU admission while 1,807 or 69.9% did not. 317 or 12.3% of the patients died.
“The relative risk analysis showed that females are at greater risk of mortality as compared to males having same co-morbid conditions except for hypertensive patients where the relative risk of mortality in females is less than the males,” states the study.
