Impact of the Presence of Chronic Respiratory Diseases on the Mortality of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Single Center Experience

INTRODUCTION: The influence of coexisting chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) on the prognosis of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection lasts debetable. This study meant to investigate the consequence of CRDs on the mortality of COVID-19 pneumonia inpatients.
METHODS: Hospitalized patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. The data were derived from electronic medical records retrospectively, patients with and without CRD past history were analyzed concerning in-hospital mortality.
RESULTS: In a total of 1529 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, 54 (58.1%) were male and, the mean age was 61.18±15.03 years. A total of 245 individuals were diagnosed with CRD. The CRD group consisted of asthma (128 cases, 52.24%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 79 cases, 32.37%), lung cancer (15 cases, 6.14%), obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS, 12 cases, 4.91%), and interstitial lung disease (ILD, 11 cases, 4.5%). Mean age, female gender, respiratory rate, and supplemental oxygen requirement were significantly higher in the CRD group (p=0,001; p<0,01 for all). In-hospital mortality was 11.8% (29 cases) in the CRD group and %8.4 (108 cases) in the group without CRD. In univariate analysis there was no significant difference in-hospital mortality between the two groups (p>0.05). Although CRD patients had a similar mortality ratio compared with non-CRD patients on multivariate logistic analysis (OR, 0.262, 95% CI 0.071-0.968; p= 0.045); COPD and ILD subgroups exhibited 2.1-fold (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.13-3.92; p= 0,017) and 3,87 fold (OR 3.87, 95% CI 1.015-14.772; p=0,033) increased risk of in-hospital mortality respectively.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Even though patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and CRDs do not have a higher mortality rate, it is crucial to closely monitor these patients because of the elevated mortality risk associated with COPD and ILD.