COVID-19-Associated Mortality in US Veterans with and without SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Abstract

Background

We performed an observational Veterans Health Administration cohort analysis to assess how risk factors affect 30-day mortality in SARS-CoV-2-infected subjects relative to those uninfected. While the risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been extensively studied, these have been seldom compared with uninfected referents.

Methods

We analyzed 341,166 White/Black male veterans tested for SARS-CoV-2 from March 1 to September 10, 2020. The relative risk of 30-day mortality was computed for age, race, ethnicity, BMI, smoking status, and alcohol use disorder in infected and uninfected subjects separately. The difference in relative risk was then evaluated between infected and uninfected subjects. All the analyses were performed considering clinical confounders.

Results

In this cohort, 7% were SARS-CoV-2-positive. Age >60 and overweight/obesity were associated with a dose-related increased mortality risk among infected patients relative to those uninfected. In contrast, relative to never smoking, current smoking was associated with a decreased mortality among infected and an increased mortality in uninfected, yielding a reduced mortality risk among infected relative to uninfected. Alcohol use disorder was also associated with decreased mortality risk in infected relative to the uninfected.

Conclusions

Age, BMI, smoking, and alcohol use disorder affect 30-day mortality in SARS-CoV-2-infected subjects differently from uninfected referents. Advanced age and overweight/obesity were associated with increased mortality risk among infected men, while current smoking and alcohol use disorder were associated with lower mortality risk among infected men, when compared with those uninfected.

Department

Description

Provenance

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.3390/ijerph18168486

Publication Info

Suzuki, Ayako, Jimmy T Efird, Thomas S Redding, Andrew D Thompson, Ashlyn M Press, Christina D Williams, Christopher J Hostler, Christine M Hunt, et al. (2021). COVID-19-Associated Mortality in US Veterans with and without SARS-CoV-2 Infection. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(16). pp. 8486–8486. 10.3390/ijerph18168486 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23693.

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Scholars@Duke

Suzuki

Ayako Suzuki

Associate Professor of Medicine
Williams

Christina D Williams

Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine
Hostler

Christopher James Hostler

Associate Professor of Medicine
Hunt

Christine Marie Hunt

Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine

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