Becetti Karima, Satti Eman, Varughese Betsy, Al Rimawi Yousef, Sheikh Saleh Rawan, Hadwan Nawal, Gharib Miral H, Al Kahlout Mohamed Awni, Abuhelaiqa Essa, Afif Ashour Hadil, Singh Rajvir, Emadi Samar Al
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar E-mail:
Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Qatar Med J. 2022 Aug 5;2022(3):37. doi: 10.5339/qmj.2022.37. eCollection 2022.
Autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) are characterized by immune dysfunction and associated with an increased risk of infections, which were of significant concern during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Variable rates of COVID-19 incidence have been reported in patients with ARDs; however, the true effect of this infection on this patient population is still unclear. We, therefore, aimed to evaluate the COVID-19 prevalence among a multiethnic cohort of patients with ARDs in Qatar.
We used telephonic surveys to collect demographic and clinical information of patients with ARD in Qatar between April 1 and July 31, 2020, including any close contact with a COVID-19 case at home or work and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. An electronic medical records review was conducted to verify pertinent data collected through the surveys. Prevalence with 95% confidence interval (CI), Student's t-tests, and chi-square/Fisher's exact tests were used for univariate analyses, whereas multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with COVID-19.
The study included 700 patients with ARD (mean age, 43.2 ± 12.3 years), and 73% were female. Until July 2020, 75 (11%, 95% CI 9%-13%) patients had COVID-19. Factors associated with COVID-19 included being a man (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.56, 95% CI 1.35-4.88, = 0.01) and having close contact with a COVID-19 case (aOR 27.89, 95% CI 14.85-52.38, = 0.01). Disease severity and rheumatic medications had no significant association with the odds of contracting COVID-19. In the 86 patients with ARD having close contact, the frequency of hydroxychloroquine utilization was lower in patients who contracted COVID-19 than in those who did not (35% vs 72.5%, = 0.01).
In Qatar, patients with ARDs had an overall higher prevalence of COVID-19 than global estimates. Being male and having close contact with a COVID-19 case were strongly associated with COVID-19 as reported globally. The presence of comorbid conditions, disease-specific factors, and rheumatic medications had no significant effect on the risk of COVID-19 in our study suggesting alternative mechanisms to the increased prevalence.
自身免疫性风湿性疾病（ARDs）以免疫功能紊乱为特征，且与感染风险增加相关，在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间备受关注。已有报道称ARDs患者中COVID-19发病率各异；然而，这种感染对该患者群体的真正影响仍不明确。因此，我们旨在评估卡塔尔一个多民族ARDs患者队列中的COVID-19患病率。
我们通过电话调查收集了2020年4月1日至7月31日期间卡塔尔ARDs患者的人口统计学和临床信息，包括在家或工作场所与COVID-19病例的任何密切接触情况以及聚合酶链反应（PCR）确诊的COVID-19诊断结果。进行了电子病历审查以核实通过调查收集的相关数据。采用95%置信区间（CI）的患病率、学生t检验和卡方/费舍尔精确检验进行单因素分析，而多因素逻辑回归用于确定与COVID-19相关的因素。
该研究纳入了700例ARDs患者（平均年龄43.2±12.3岁），其中73%为女性。截至2020年7月，75例（11%，95%CI 9%-13%）患者感染了COVID-19。与COVID-19相关的因素包括男性（调整后的优势比[aOR]2.56，95%CI 1.35-4.88，P=0.01）以及与COVID-19病例有密切接触（aOR 27.89，95%CI 14.85-52.38，P=0.01）。疾病严重程度和风湿药物与感染COVID-19的几率无显著关联。在86例有密切接触的ARDs患者中，感染COVID-19的患者使用羟氯喹的频率低于未感染患者（35%对72.5%，P=0.01）。
在卡塔尔，ARDs患者中COVID-19的总体患病率高于全球估计值。如全球报道的那样，男性以及与COVID-19病例有密切接触与感染COVID-19密切相关。在我们的研究中，合并症的存在、疾病特异性因素和风湿药物对COVID-19风险无显著影响，这表明患病率增加存在其他机制。
