Prevalence of COVID-19 in connective tissue diseases

ABSTRACT

Propose Due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV- 2), novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) is a systemic viral disease that mostly affects the respiratory tract. Studies have shown that COVID-19 may increase the risk of autoantibody development in patients with connective tissue diseases (CTD) .However, data regarding the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with CTD and drug use were relatively scarce. The prevalence of COVID-19 in CTD patients was estimated by means of meta-analysis, and the effect of the use of anti-rheumatic drugs on the clinical outcome of CTD patients with COVID-19 was investigated. Method(s) Cross-sectional investigations and case series on CTD and COVID-19 published by CBM, CNKI, China Science and Technology Journal Database, Wan Fang Data, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Medline from its establishment to April 5, 2022 were searched. A random effects model was used to pool data. Heterogeneity and risk of bias was examined with I-squared index (I2) statistic. Inconsistency was evaluated with the I2. Egger tests were used for the evaluation of potential publication bias (STATA v.12.0). Result(s) A total 11 studies involving 75908 participants were included in the meta-analysis (Table 1). The overall prevalence of COVID-19 among CTD patients was 3.3% (95%CI 2.3%-4.3%) (Figure 1A), the hospitalization rate was 17.6% (95%CI 7.5%-27.6%;Figure 1B), with the rate of 4.4% (95%CI 2.8%-6.0%;Figure 1C)in ICU admission, and the mortality rate was 4.5% (95%CI 2.5%-6.4%;igure 1D). Six of the studies included patients who used hydroxychloroquine as part of their treatment regimen, with 15.5% (95%CI 5.6%-25.3%) adverse outcome rates (Figure 1E). Conclusion(s) Patients with CTD had a higher risk of COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine might increase adverse outcome rate of COVID-19.