Pre-morbidity and COVID-19 disease outcomes in Pakistani population: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: To identify association of underlying pre-morbidities with disease severity and mortality in hospitalized patients with Corona virus disease 2019.

Methods: Total 884 COVID RT-PCR positive patients admitted to KRL Hospital Islamabad from April 2020 to August 2020 were included in this cross-sectional study. Pre-morbidities recorded were hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, chronic respiratory disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, chronic neuro-psychiatric conditions (stroke and depression) and malignancy. Oxygen requirement, requirement of invasive ventilation, and outcome (recovered versus died) was documented. WHO categories for disease severity were used. Demographic profile and symptoms were also noted. SPSS 22 was used for data analysis. Pearson’s Chi square test was used to see association between pre-morbidities and disease severity categories, oxygen requirement, invasive ventilation and outcome. Pearson’s correlation was applied to analyze the correlation between individual pre-morbidities and disease severity categories. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean age was 40 ± 12.21 years with 98.5% being males. Majority patients (74.8%) were asymptomatic. Fever was the most common symptom. Diabetes mellitus and hypertension were the most commonly recorded co-morbidity. Significant correlation (p-value < 0.05) was found between the presence of underlying pre-morbidities and disease severity as well as oxygen requirement, requirement of invasive ventilation and mortality.

Conclusion: Results are compatible with worldwide studies and underlying pre-morbidities are convincing risk factors for disease severity and mortality.