Prevalence of co-morbidities and its association with mortality in Indian patients with COVID-19: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) has spread to every corner of the world and has led to significant health consequences, especially in patients with co morbidities. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of co morbidities among COVID 19 patients in the Indian population and their association with mortality. METHODS: PubMed, Google Scholar, and World Health Organization website were searched for Indian studies on COVID 19 published from February 2020 up to 20 May 2021. English language publications from India, studies reporting epidemiological characteristics, prevalence of co morbidities and in hospital mortality were included in the meta analysis. RESULTS: 34 studies were identified with a total of 23,034 patients. The pooled prevalence for co morbidities in COVID 19 patients was 18.1% [95% confidence interval (CI), 13.3 to 24.3%] for hypertension, 17.7% (95% CI, 12.2 to 25.1%) for diabetes, 7.9% (95% CI, 4.6 to 13.4%) for hypothyroidism and 7.7%(95% CI, 4.8 to 12. 1%) for cardiovascular diseases. For chronic kidney disease (CKD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cerebrovascular diseases, asthma, chronic liver disease, tuberculosis and cancer, the pooled prevalence was less than 4%. Additionally, the mortality risk was increased significantly in patients with CKD [odds ratio (OR) = 4.1], COPD (OR = 3.9), diabetes (OR = 3.7), cardiovascular diseases (OR = 4.07), tuberculosis (OR = 6.11), chronic liver disease (OR = 8.5), malignancy (OR = 1.89) and hypertension (OR = 2.9). Cerebrovascular diseases, hypothyroidism and asthma were not associated with increased mortality. CONCLUSION: Co-morbidities are more prevalent in COVID 19 hospitalised patients and the presence of co morbidities is associated with increased risk of mortality in Indian COVID 19 patients.