Pre-existing health conditions and severe COVID-19 outcomes: an umbrella review approach and meta-analysis of global evidence

The isolated effect of age on the risk of COVID-19 severe outcomes: a systematic review with meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Increased age has been reported to be a factor for COVID-19 severe outcomes. However, many studies do not consider the age dependency of comorbidities, which influence the course of disease. Protection strategies often target individuals after a certain age, which may not necessarily be evidence based. The aim of this review was to quantify the isolated effect of age on hospitalisation, admission to intensive care unit (ICU), mechanical ventilation and death.

METHODS

This review was based on an umbrella review, in which Pubmed, Embase and preprint databases were searched on 10 December 2020, for relevant reviews on COVID-19 disease severity. Two independent reviewers evaluated the primary studies using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results were extracted, and each study was assessed for risk of bias. The isolated effect of age was estimated by meta-analysis, and the quality of evidence was assessed using Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation framework.

RESULTS

Seventy studies met our inclusion criteria (case mortality: n=14, in-hospital mortality: n=44, hospitalisation: n=16, admission to ICU: n=12, mechanical ventilation: n=7). The risk of in-hospital and case mortality increased per age year by 5.7% and 7.4%, respectively (effect size (ES) in-hospital mortality=1.057, 95% CI 1.038 to 1.054; ES case mortality=1.074, 95% CI 1.061 to 1.087), while the risk of hospitalisation increased by 3.4% per age year (ES=1.034, 95% CI 1.021 to 1.048). No increased risk was observed for ICU admission and intubation by age year. There was no evidence of a specific age threshold at which the risk accelerates considerably. The confidence of evidence was high for mortality and hospitalisation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show a best-possible quantification of the increase in COVID-19 disease severity due to age. Rather than implementing age thresholds, prevention programmes should consider the continuous increase in risk. There is a need for continuous, high-quality research and 'living' reviews to evaluate the evidence throughout the pandemic, as results may change due to varying circumstances.

Asymptomatic COVID-19 and ST-elevation myocardial infarction in young adults: lessons learned from two similar cases

We present two cases of acute myocardial infarction in young patients with asymptomatic COVID‐19 infection and ST‐elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), complicated by severe acute heart failure and ventricular fibrillation, resulting cardiopulmonary resuscitation and mechanical ventilatory support. Urgent primary percutaneous coronary intervention with further complex treatment was effective in both cases with critical cardiovascular state and co‐morbid COVID‐19 infection. This report illustrates the challenges in clinical severity of STEMI with COVID‐19 infection, despite of young age and absence of clinical symptoms and chronic co‐morbidities. STEMI patients with even asymptomatic COVID‐19 infection may be presented with significantly higher rates of severe acute heart failure.

Control and Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks among Healthcare Workers from 129 Healthcare Facilities in Mexico

Few reports have shared the workflows to reduce SARS-CoV-2 infections among risk groups, including healthcare workers (HCWs). This study describes an occupational health program implemented to reduce the incidence of COVID-19 and establishes a back-to-work algorithm in HCWs of 129 Salud Digna outpatient care clinics in Mexico. This program was composed of training plans, screening SARS-CoV-2 infections, the containment of infections, follow-up COVID-19 cases, and continuing supervision in addition to the steady supply and training for the correct use of PPE. From 16 April 2020 to 15 April 2021, 7376 individuals were enrolled, of which 423 were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria or refused the follow-up. In the cohort studied, we found a COVID-19 incidence of 35.4% (2610 individuals), lower hospitalization (0.11%), ICU (0.04%) and lethality rate (0.04%). Additionally, 85.9% of COVID-19 cases tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 after 14 days of the first positive test with an average isolation time of 26–33 days. Finally, 99% of people received personal protective equipment and adequate training to use it. Our results show that the program implemented reduced the hospitalization ICU admission and lethality in HCWs; we consider this workflow to help other workplaces offer safe conditions for HCWs and patients.

Multicomponent Exercise Program for Improvement of Functional Capacity and Lipidic Profile of Older Women with High Cholesterol and High Triglycerides

Background: Physical inactivity is a primary cause of most chronic diseases. In addition, the negative effects of aging, physical inactivity and dyslipidemia are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases of older women. Exercise is considered fundamental for the treatment and prevention due to the benefits in the health of this population, but detraining periods after exercise can reverse them. Multicomponent exercise (ME) is a combined method of aerobic and resistance training that can improve the lipidic profile of older women with high cholesterol and triglycerides. Methods: Seventeen older women (EG: 65.3 ± 4.7 years, 1.52 ± 4.12 m) followed a supervised ME program of nine months and three months of detraining (DT), and fifteen older women (CG: 66.4 ± 5.2 years, 1.54 ± 5.58 cm) continued their daily routine, without exercise. Total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), blood glucose (GL) and functional capacity (FC) were evaluated at the beginning and at the end of the program and after three months of DT. Results: ME program improved (p < 0.05) lipidic profile: GL (−15.6%), TC (−15.3%), TG (−19.3%) and FC: agility (−13.3%), lower body strength (27.78%), upper body strength (26.3%), cardiorespiratory capacity (11.2%), lower body flexibility (66.67%) and upper body flexibility (85.72%). DT declined the lipidic profile and FC (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Lipidic profile and functional capacity can be improved with nine months of ME. Besides the negative effects of DT, three months were not enough to reverse the benefits of exercise in older women with high values of TG and TC.

Covid-19 risk factors: statistical learning from German healthcare claims data

BACKGROUND

Precise individual risk quantification of severe courses of Covid-19 is needed to prioritize protective measures and to assess population risks in a phase of increased immunization. So far, results for the German population are lacking. Furthermore, existing studies pre-specify comorbidity risks by broad categories rather than deriving them from the data using statistical learning techniques.

METHODS

Risk factors for severe, critical and lethal courses of Covid-19 are identified from a large German claims dataset covering more than 4 million individuals. To avoid prior grouping and pre-selection of risk factors, fine-grained hierarchical information from medical classification systems for diagnoses, pharmaceuticals and procedures are used, resulting in more than 33,000 covariates. These are processed using a LASSO approach.

RESULTS

We identify relevant risk factors, among which hypertensive diseases, heart disease and the corresponding medications are most relevant at population level. Prior use of diuretics is the strongest single medical predictor for severe course (e.g. Torasemide, odds ratio (OR) 1.801), but also for a critical course (OR 2.304) and death (OR 2.523). To assess risk profiles at the individual level, our approach sums up many such factors and has better predictive ability than using pre-specified morbidity groups (AUC for predicting critical course 0.875 versus AUC ≤ 0.865).

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed method can help to identify risk factors and assess risk at the individual level for other infectious diseases. The results can be used by administrative data holders to guide protective policies, while a risk index can be applied in clinical studies with a narrower focus.