Characteristics associated with Covid-19 in patients with Rheumatic Disease in Latin America: data from the Covid-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician-reported registry

• Published in: Global rheumatology 2020-09, Vol.1
• Main Authors: Ugarte-Gil, Manuel F., Marques, Claudia D. L., Alpizar-Rodriguez, Deshire, Pons-Estel, Guillermo J., Xibille-Friedmann, Daniel, Paiva, Eduardo, Zamora-Tehozol, Erick A., Gamboa-Cárdenas, Rocío V., Quintana, Rosana, Rodriguez-Reyna, Tatiana S., Sepúlveda, Ana María, Gianfrancesco, Milena, Evans, Michael, Wallace, Zachary, Sirotich, Emily, Omedo, Evelyn, Hausmann, Jonathan S., Alarcón, Graciela S., Robinson, Philip C., Yazdany, Jinoos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: covid19; latin america; morbidity; mortality; rheumatic diseases; rheumatology
• ISSN: 2709-5533; 2709-5533
• DOI: 10.46856/grp.10.e003

Objective: To compare the characteristics of patients with rheumatic diseases and COVID-19 reported from Latin American countries with those from the rest of the world. Methods: Patients from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Physician-Reported Registry were included. Details regarding demographics, rheumatic disease features, comorbidities, COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment, and outcomes were examined. Chi-squared and t-tests were used to compare associations between groups (Latin America vs. rest of the world). Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of hospitalization (yes/no) and ventilatory support (not hospitalized or supplementary oxygen only vs. non-invasive, invasive ventilation, or ECMO); Poisson models were used to estimate ORs and 95% CIs of mortality. Results: Seventy-four patients from Latin America and 583 patients from the rest of the world were included. The most frequent rheumatic diseases in both groups were rheumatoid arthritis (35% and 39%, respectively) and systemic lupus erythematosus (22% and 14% respectively). Mortality was similar between groups (12% Latin America vs 11% rest of the world, p=0.88. However, Latin American patients in the registry had a higher odds of requiring non-invasive or invasive ventilation, after adjustment [OR= 2.29, 95%CI (1.29, 4.07), p less than 0.01].. Conclusion: Latin American patients with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 reported to this global registry presented a higher need for ventilatory support, however experienced a similar mortality than patients from the rest of the world.