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Comorbidity status of deceased COVID-19 in-patients in Italy

Davide Liborio Vetrano1,2, Clare Tazzeo3, Luigi Palmieri4

  • 1Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Tomatebodavägen 18A, 10th floor17165 Solna, Stockholm, Sweden. davide.vetrano@ki.se.

Aging Clinical and Experimental Research
|June 25, 2021
PubMed

Insights

In-hospital COVID-19 deaths in Italy were linked to specific co-occurring diseases. Combinations of cardio-respiratory, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric conditions were more frequent than expected, highlighting their potential role in mortality.

Area of Science:

  • Epidemiology
  • Clinical Medicine
  • Public Health

Background:

  • COVID-19 disproportionately affects older adults with comorbidities.
  • Patterns of comorbidities contributing to COVID-19 mortality require investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify specific patterns of comorbidities associated with in-hospital COVID-19 deaths in Italy.
  • To analyze the co-occurrence of diseases in individuals who died from COVID-19.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a random sample of 6085 individuals who died in-hospital with confirmed COVID-19 in Italy (February-December 2020).
  • Calculation of observed to expected (O/E) ratios for disease pairs.
  • Logistic regression models to assess associations between disease pairs with O/E ≥ 1.5.

Main Results:

  • Six disease pairs showed significantly higher co-occurrence (O/E ≥ 1.5): ischemic heart disease/atrial fibrillation, atrial fibrillation/heart failure, atrial fibrillation/stroke, heart failure/COPD, stroke/dementia, and type 2 diabetes/obesity.
  • These combinations involve cardio-respiratory, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric conditions.

Conclusions:

  • Specific combinations of cardio-respiratory, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric diseases are more frequent than expected in individuals dying from COVID-19 in Italian hospitals.
  • Further research is needed to understand the role of these clinical profiles in COVID-19 mortality pathways.
Abstract

Keywords:
COVID-19Chronic diseaseComorbidityMortalityMultimorbidity

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