medwireNews: Patients with rheumatic diseases from racial minority groups are more likely to experience severe outcomes if they develop COVID-19 than White patients, as is seen for the general population, US data show.
Reporting the findings in a poster at the ACR Convergence 2020 virtual meeting, Milena Gianfrancesco (University of California San Francisco, USA) said that the “results illustrate significant health disparities related to COVID-19 in people with rheumatic diseases.”
She added: “The rheumatology community should proactively address the needs of patients currently experiencing inequitable health outcomes during the pandemic.”
Among 1324 patients with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 entered into the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician registry between March 24 and August 26, 2020, 36% were hospitalized, 26% of whom required mechanical ventilation, and 6% died.
The risk for hospitalization was increased a significant two- to threefold among people from racial minority groups compared with White individuals. The adjusted odds ratios after taking into account factors such as age, sex, rheumatic disease diagnosis and activity, and comorbidities, were 2.74, 1.71, and 2.69 for Black, Latinx, and Asian patients, respectively. Latinx patients also had a 3.25-fold increased risk for needing ventilator support.
Gianfrancesco commented that there were no differences in the risk for death, although she pointed out that the study may have not been sufficiently powered to detect this association.
medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2020 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group
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