Researchers identify risk factors for severe Covid-19 and death in UK patients – Nursing Times

Older age, male sex, obesity, and underlying illness have emerged as risk factors for UK patients experiencing severe Covid-19 and in some cases dying, according to researchers.

The largest observational study to date found that the risk of death increased in the over 50s, as did being male, being obese, or having underlying heart, lung, liver and kidney disease.

Our study identifies sectors of the population that are at greatest risk of a poor outcome

Study authors

It provides a comprehensive picture of the characteristics of patients hospitalised in the UK with Covid-19 and their outcomes, according to the authors of the ongoing study.

The findings will help health professionals learn more about how the illness progresses and enable us to compare the UK with other countries, added the researchers.

They noted that previous studies in China had reported risk factors associated with severe Covid-19, but said studies describing the features and outcomes of those hospitalised in Europe were lacking.

As a result, the team of UK researchers analysed data from 20,133 patients with Covid-19 admitted to 208 acute care hospitals in England, Wales and Scotland between 6 February and 19 April 2020.

This number represents around a third of all patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in the UK, said the study authors who are from a range of UK universities and national bodies.

The average age of patients in the study was 73 years, and more men were admitted to hospital than women 60% versus 40%.

They confirmed previous evidence that increasing age, and underlying heart, lung, liver and kidney disease were factors linked to poor outcomes.

But the researchers also found that obesity and gender were key factors associated with the need for higher levels of care and higher risk of death in hospital.

In addition, outcomes were poorer for those requiring mechanical ventilation, the researches noted in the British Medical Journal.

They said the pattern of disease they had found broadly reflected that reported globally, but highlighted that obesity had not been highlighted as a major additional risk factor in Chinese data.

They suspected that reduced lung function or inflammation associated with obesity may play a role in its association with poorer Covid-19 outcomes.

The results have already been shared with the UK government and World Health Organization (WHO) and were being compared with data from other countries around the world, said the authors.

They stated: Patients with Covid-19 usually presented with fever, cough, and shortness of breath, and met the WHO case definitions for severe acute respiratory infection or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The most common previous major comorbidities were chronic cardiac disease, diabetes, and chronic non-asthmatic pulmonary disease, they said in the BMJ.

Factors associated with mortality in hospital were increasing age, male sex, and major comorbidities cardiac disease, non-asthmatic pulmonary disease, kidney disease, liver disease, malignancy, obesity, and dementia.

They added: Our study identifies sectors of the population that are at greatest risk of a poor outcome, and shows the importance of forward planning and investment in preparedness studies.

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Researchers identify risk factors for severe Covid-19 and death in UK patients - Nursing Times