Severe COVID-19 Risk in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases Differs by Condition

Patients with hematologic cancers, solid tumors, or rheumatoid arthritis have significantly increased risk for severe COVID-19 compared with the general population, suggest study findings published in Advances in Therapy.

“Using a nationwide electronic health record database, this study evaluated whether patients with underlying immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) or malignancies were more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 outcomes because of the immunosuppressive nature of such conditions,” wrote a research team from AbbVie Inc. “The risk of severe COVID-19 varied by condition.”

The study included 499,772 patients with COVID-19 between February 1, 2020, and March 3, 2021, in the US-based Optum Electronic Health Records database. The mean age of patients was 46.9 years, and 57% were women.

Adjusted risk ratios for the risk of severe COVID-19 were 2.0 for patients with hematologic cancers, 1.1 for patients with solid tumors, and 1.2 for patients with rheumatoid arthritis compared with the general population of patients with COVID-19, according to the study.

The risk of severe COVID-19 for patients with other IMIDs, however, appeared comparable to that of the general population. Adjusted risk ratios for the risk of severe COVID-19 were 1.1 for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, 1.0 with psoriasis, 0.9 with ulcerative colitis, 0.9 with Crohn’s disease, 0.8 with ankylosing spondylitis, 0.8 with atopic dermatitis, and 0.8 with psoriatic arthritis.

“While it is important to protect all patients with IMIDs or malignancies from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 monitoring and management should be pertinent for each IMID or type of malignancies in addition to other risk factors for severe COVID-19,” researchers advised.

Reference:
Yue X, Ye Y, Choi YC, Zhang D, Krueger WS. Risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes among patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases or malignancies: a retrospective analysis of real-world data in the United States. Adv Ther. Published online September 25, 2022. doi:10.1007/s12325-022-02293-0