The Impact of Charlson Comorbidity Index on Mortality From SARS-CoV-2 Virus Infection

Introduction: Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) is a simple, validated, and readily acceptable method of determining the risk of mortality from comorbid disease. It has been used as a predictor of long-term survival and prognosis. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of CCI score on mortality in COVID-19 hospitalized patients and test the efficacy of the CoLACD score (COVID-19 lymphocyte ratio, age, CCI score, dyspnoea) in predicting mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methodology: It was a retrospective cohort, and the data of this study were gathered from two tertiary hospitals of Karachi, including Liaquat National Hospital and Ziauddin Hospital. Data of patients hospitalized in any of these tertiary care hospitals and diagnosed with confirmed COVID-19 infection were used in the study from January 15, 2021, to April 30, 2021. Results: The mean age of participants was 53.22 (±14.21) years. The majority of participants were males (74.91%). Predictors of mortality include CCI score, age of participants, D-dimer, smoking status, and shortness of breath. The sensitivity of this CoLACD score was 80.23%, and specificity was 50.23% (diagnostic accuracy is 60.45%). The negative predictive value (NPV) of this test was 39.44%, and the positive predictive value (PPV) was 83.01%. Conclusion: Our study showed that CCI can be used in a clinical setting to achieve a prediction of mortality in COVID-19 patients.