Quantification of Death Risk in Relation to Sex, Pre-Existing Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk Factors in COVID-19 Patients: Let’s Take Stock and See Where We Are

Abstract

Patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) might be more susceptible to infection from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and have higher mortality rates. Nevertheless, the risk of mortality has not been previously quantified. The aim of this meta-analysis is to quantify the risk of mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. A meta-analysis was conducted analyzing the impact of (1) sex, (2) age, (3) CVD with coronary artery disease (CAD), (4) CAD alone, (5) CVD without CAD, (6) hypertension, (7) cerebrovascular diseases, and (8) diabetes on mortality. Relative risk was assessed for dichotomous variables, mean difference for continuous variables. Twenty-six studies were included, encompassing 8497 patients. Males had 16% higher risk of mortality than females (p p p p p p p p < 0.05, respectively). Sex, age, presence of CAD and/or other types of CVD, hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus increase mortality in patients with COVID-19.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2
• cardiovascular diseases
• mortality
• hypertension
• diabetes mellitus