Anemia prognostic risk factor for COVID-19 mortality, find study

COVID-19 infection is deemed severe when there is a requirement for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and/or mechanical ventilation, or death owing to the illness. The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted risk factors that enhances the severity of COVID-19 infection. These risk factors include obesity, smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity, pollution, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, and cancer. Recently released research examined that anemia in a COVID-19 infected individual might have an influence on the severity of the illness as well.

Retrospective data was obtained from 784 patients hospitalized to the COVID adult ICU between March and June 2021. Patients were categorized as anemic and non-anemic based on the World Health Organization (WHO) standards. Chi-squared test was done to examine the association of anemia with the patient fatalities. Among the 784 patients, 507 succumbed to COVID-19. Of them, 49.3 percent exhibited varied degrees of anemia. Significant connection of anemia with mortality due to COVID-19 was reported in men and females (P = 0.002106 and P = 0.033071, respectively) and in patients without any other comorbidities except anemia (P = 0.002020). This shows that anemia is independently an essential criterion that has a role in severity of COVID-19.