Comorbidities and biomarkers associated with severity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate clinical characteristics and analytical abnormalities at admission in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and to identify which are associated with severe disease. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed. All adult patients admitted with COVID-19 from March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020, were included consecutively. A descriptive analysis of clinical characteristics and analytical abnormalities at admission was made. We evaluated what comorbidities and biomarkers are associated with severe COVID-19 using a binary logistic regression model. Results: A total of 336 patients were included, 83 patients (24.7%) with severe disease. In patients with severe COVID-19, 76% were male, mean age was 71 years, and the most prevalent comorbidities were hypertension (57.8%), obesity (55.4%), dyslipidemia (50.6%), and diabetes (42.2%). In multivariate analysis, age (OR: 1.03; 95% CI 1.01-1.05; p = 0.004), male sex (OR: 2.92; 95% CI 1.62-5.27; p 600 U/L (OR: 2.35; 95% CI 1.10-5.04; p = 0.027), serum ferritin >600 mcg/L (OR: 2.66; 95% CI 1.24-5.70; p = 0.012), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) > 40 pg/mL (OR: 4.30; 95% CI 2.04-9.04;p 600 U/L, serum ferritin > 500 mcg/L, and IL-6 > 40 pg/mL.

Keywords

• Comorbidity. Biomarkers. COVID-19. Severity.