Impact of Comorbidities on Clinical Outcome of Patients with COVID-19: Evidence From a Single-center in Bangladesh

 COVID-19 patients with preexisting comorbidities are at increased risk of exacerbated symptoms.

 The current study aimed to firstly assess the impact of predisposed comorbidities on the severity of COVID-19, and secondly investigating the associated clinical outcome of patients with COVID-19 infection in Bangladesh.

 In this single-center retrospective study, the medical data of 157 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, including their preexisting comorbidities, from April 30, 2020, to June 15, 2020, are analyzed. Patients’ clinical outcomes in moderate-to-critical COVID-19 infections need for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and mechanical ventilation support, and mortality were evaluated, with emphasis on predisposed chronic diseases.

 Approximately 40.1 and 7.6% of patients (n = 157) presented severe and critical COVID-19 symptoms, respectively (P = 0.001). The most common comorbidity was diabeties (24.8%), followed by hypertension (23.2). Patients with one or two comorbidities did not present critical symptoms. Most of the critical cases had at least five comorbidities compared to those with 3 or 4 comorbidities (33.3% versus 8.3%; P = 0.038). The highest incidence of critical COVID-19 (41.7%) was among those with 7 comorbidities. Compared to patients with 4 or fewer comorbidities, patients with 5 (n = 15), 6 (n = 4), and 7 (n = 7) comorbidities were more hospitalized at ICU (above 70%, P = 0.025) and had a higher need for intubation support (above 60%, P = 0.038), and presented higher 30-day mortality (6.7, 25, and 28.6%, respectively; P = 0.002), which can be attributed to the declined clinical outcome of patients with 5 or more comorbidities in moderate-to-critical COVID-19 infection.

 This study demonstrated a positive association between the severity of COVID-19 and the number of predisposed comorbidities, which leads to poor clinical outcomes.