Risk factors for mortality in patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Bolivia: An analysis of the first 107 confirmed cases.

The present study is aimed to assess the risk factors for mortality in the first 107 rRT-PCR confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Bolivia. For this observational, retrospective and cross-sectional study, the epidemiological data records were collected from the Hospitals and the Ministry of Health of Bolivia, obtaining the clinical and epidemiological data of the COVID-19 cases that were laboratory-diagnosed during March 2-29, 2020. Samples were tested by rRT-PCR to SARS-CoV-2 at the Laboratory of the National Center of Tropical Diseases (CENETROP), following the protocol Charite, Berlin, Germany. The odds ratio (OR) with respective 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for mortality as dependent variable was calculated. When we comparatively analyzed survivors and non-survivors in this first group of 107 cases in Bolivia, we found that at bivariate analyses, age (±60 years old), hypertension, chronic heart failure, diabetes, and obesity, as well as the requirement of ICU, were significantly exposure variables associated with death. At the multivariate analysis (logistic regression), two variables remained significantly associated, age, ±60 years-old (OR=9.4, 95%CI 1.8-104.1) and hypertension (OR=3.3, 95%CI 1.3-6.3). As expected, age and comorbidities, particularly hypertension, were independent risk factors for mortality in Bolivia in the first 107 cases group. More further studies are required to better define risk factors and preventive measures related to COVID-19 in this and other Latin American countries.