Old Age, Number and Specific Comorbidities are Closely Related to Progression and Poor Prognosis in Patients with COVID-19

Abstract Background— Some patients with comorbidities and rapid disease progression have a poor prognosis.Aim—In this study, we aimed to investigate the distribution characteristics of comorbidities and their relationship with disease progression and outcomes of COVID-19 patients.Methods— A total of 718 COVID-19 patients were divided into five clinical type groups and eight age-interval groups. The distribution characteristics of comorbidities were compared between the different clinical type groups and between the different age-interval groups, and their relationships with disease progression and outcomes of COVID-19 patients were assessed.Results—Approximately 88.62% (637/718) of the COVID-19 patients were twenty to fifty-nine years old. Approximately 65.73% (554/718) had one or more comorbidities, and common comorbidities included non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), hyperlipidaemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic hepatitis B (CHB), hyperuricaemia and gout. COVID-19 patients with comorbidities were older, especially those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Hypertension, DM, COPD, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and CVD were mainly found in severe COVID-19 patients, and hypertension, CKD and CVD were primarily associated with those who died. Risk factors included the number of comorbidities and hyperlipidaemia for disease severity, age, the number of comorbidities, hyperlipidaemia, NAFLD and COPD for the virus negative conversion time, and the number of comorbidities and CKD for prognosis. Number of comorbidities played a predictive role in disease progression and outcomes.Conclusions—These findings provide a reference for clinicians to focus on the number and specific comorbidities in COVID-19 patients to predict disease progression and prognosis.Clinical Trial Registry: Chinese Clinical Trial Register ChiCTR2000034563