Risk factors of the severity of COVID-19: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: We intend to identify some probable risk factors that are responsible for the severity of COVID-19 using a meta-analysis.

Methods: The literature exploration lasted up to 18 April 2020 and through PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE and Cochrane Library we have identified 10 pertinent publications. To paraphrase the outcomes of autonomous researches, we have performed a random-effect meta-analysis.

Results: A total of 2272 patients' information was extracted from the selected literature. We have found gender (male) (Risk ratio [RR] = 1.29, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.07 to 1.54), hypertension (RR = 1.79, 95% CI 1.57 to 2.04), diabetes (RR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.98), fatigue or myalgia (RR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.35), and smoking history (RR = 1.71, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.35) are potential risk factors for the severity of COVID-19. We found fever (RR = 1.21, 95% CI 0.66 to 2.22), cough (1.13, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.30) and diarrhoea (RR = 1.14, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.40) as insignificant risk factors for COVID-19 severity.

Conclusions: The findings of this research may be beneficial to identify patients with higher risks to provide additional medical attention from the very beginning of the treatment.