Early insights of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Veterans' Affairs spinal cord injury and disorders population.
Spinal Cord Ser Cases
; 8(1): 83, 2022 10 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2062191
ABSTRACT
STUDY DESIGN:
Retrospective cohort.OBJECTIVES:
The primary outcome of the study was to identify patient characteristics associated with a positive COVID-19 test. The secondary outcome was to identify patient characteristics associated with mortality from COVID-19.SETTING:
Veterans Health Administration (VHA) National Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders (SCI) Registry, created by the National Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders SCI Program Office in March 2020.METHODS:
Data was analyzed in the form of descriptive statistics and then subsequent regression analysis was performed.RESULTS:
A total of 4,562 persons with SCI were tested for COVID-19 between March and July 2020, and 290 were positive. The study found that African Americans had increased odds of testing positive for COVID-19 (OR 1.53 (1.18-2.00), p < 0.01). Increased age correlated with increased odds of mortality after testing positive for COVID-19 (1.046 (1.003-1.090)). Non-smokers had lower odds of mortality following positive COVID-19 test (0.15 (0.04-0.52)). No association was found between neurologic level of injury (NLI) and positive COVID-19 test or increased mortality. Increased Body Mass Index (BMI) did correlate with positive COVID-19 test but not increased mortality. The case fatality rate for persons with SCI and a positive test for COVID-19 was 12%.CONCLUSIONS:
It is important to define the risk factors for patients with SCI to elucidate and mitigate individual and population risks. These risk factors also can play a role in determining the allocation of critical healthcare resources.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Spinal Cord Injuries
/
Veterans
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Spinal Cord Ser Cases
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S41394-022-00548-0
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