Utilizing the Charleston Comorbidity Index as an Independent Predictor for Outcomes in SARS-Cov-2 Positive Patients

ABSTRACT

Background. Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, it has seemed that the virus is nondiscriminatory causing 3.73 million deaths worldwide. The Charleston Comorbidity Index (CCI) is a scoring system predicting the one-year mortality for patients with a range of comorbid conditions and is widely used as a predictor of prognosis and survival for a range of pathologies. This study aims to assess if there is an impact of comorbidity burden on COVID-19 patients by utilizing their CCI score. Charleston Comorbidity Index Score Scoring system for Charleston Comorbidity Index (CCI). Plus 1 point for every decade age 50 years and over, maximum 4 points. Higher scores indicate a more severe condition and consequently, a worse prognosis. Methods. Multicenter, retrospective review of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from January 2020 to September 2020 throughout the HCA Healthcare system. CCI scores for all COVID-19 positive patients were calculated and logistic regression analysis was performed to predict hospitalization and ICU admission by CCI controlling for age, sex and race. A multinomial regression model was also performed to predict discharge status by CCI controlling for age, sex and race. ROC curves to indicate the CCI cut-off point for each outcome (hospitalization, ICU admission and mortality) was performed, and Youden's Index was used to identify the optimal point. Results. In the study timeframe, 92,800 patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 and of those, 48,270 were hospitalized. A one-point increase in CCI was associated with higher odds of hospitalization [OR 1.718;95% CI 1.696-1.74]. The threshold for significance to predict hospitalization was a CCI of 1.5 (AUC 0.804, Youden Index 0.48) with a specificity (73%) and sensitivity (75%). A one-point increase in CCI was associated with 1.444 higher odds of an ICU admission (95% CI 1.134-1.155). A one-point increase in CCI significantly increased the odds of discharge to hospice compared to any discharge other than hospice [OR 1.162;95% CI 1.142-1.182]). A one-point increase in CCI score was associated with 1.188 higher odds of in-hospital mortality (95% CI, 1.173-1.203) with a CCI threshold of 3.5 having the highest specificity (50.9%) and sensitivity (79.9%) to predict mortality outcome (AUC 0.704, Youden Index 0.31). Conclusion. In conclusion CCI score is an adequate predictor of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality but less so in predicting ICU admission in COVID-19 positive patients.