Background: Patients using immunosuppressive drugs may have unfavorable results after infections. However, there is a lack of information regarding COVID-19 in these patients, especially in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with COVID-19 hospitalizations in patients with RA.
Methods: This multicenter, prospective cohort study is within the ReumaCoV Brazil registry and included 489 patients with RA. In this context, 269 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 were compared to 220 patients who tested negative for COVID-19 (control group). All patient data were collected from the Research Electronic Data Capture database.
Results: The participants were predominantly female (90.6%) with a mean age of 53 ± 12 years. Of the patients with COVID-19, 54 (20.1%) required hospitalization. After multiple adjustments, the final regression model showed that heart disease (OR = 4.61, 95% CI 1.06-20.02. P < 0.001) and current use of glucocorticoids (OR = 20.66, 95% CI 3.09-138. P < 0.002) were the risk factors associated with hospitalization. In addition, anosmia was associated with a lower chance of hospitalization (OR = 0.26; 95% CI 0.10-0.67, P < 0.005).
Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that heart disease and the use of glucocorticoids were associated with a higher number of hospital admissions for COVID-19 in patients with RA.
Trial registration: Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials - RBR-33YTQC.
Keywords: COVID-19; Hospitalization; Immunosuppression; Outcomes; Rheumatoid arthritis.
© 2022. The Author(s).