Prevalence of comorbidities in deceased patients with COVID-19: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: In December 2019, a new disease, coronavirus disease (COVID-19), emerged, which put several countries on a state of alert. Because it is a novel virus, several aspects and factors that contribute to the evolution of pathogenesis are still unknown and need to be better understood. Therefore, a systematic review is necessary to investigate the association between COVID-19 infection and chronic nontransmissible disease in patients who have died of COVID-19. Methods: This was a systematic review of the literature for observational studies published between December 2019 and September 2020. The protocol for this systematic review was registered in the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) under the number CRD42020176249. Results: In the 31 studies analyzed, a total of 421,872 (100%) patients were infected with COVID-19, and, of these, 45,399 (10.8%) died. The 3 most prevalent comorbidities were hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and respiratory diseases, respectively. The cure/recovery rate was 89.2% (376,473). Conclusion: This review revealed a high percentage of comorbidities in the patients with COVID-19, especially those who died.