Association between any underlying health condition and COVID-19-associated hospitalization by age group, Washington State, 2020-2021: a retrospective cohort study

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases Vol. 23; no. 1; p. 193
• Main Authors: McConnell, Kate H, Hajat, Anjum, Sack, Coralynn, Mooney, Stephen J, Khosropour, Christine M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 30.03.2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Age; Age groups; Aged; Analysis; Care and treatment; Cohort analysis; Communicable diseases; Comorbidity; Coronavirus; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 vaccines; Diagnosis; Electronic health records; Electronic medical records; Electronic records; Ethnicity; FDA approval; Health insurance; Hispanic people; Hospital care; Hospitalization; Humans; Infectious diseases; Medical records; Older people; Pandemics; Patients; Prevention; Public health; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Uninsured people; Washington - epidemiology; Young Adult; Young adults; Washington; United States; United States > US; Puget Sound; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Coronavirus; Pandemics; Comorbidity; Communicable diseases; Regression analysis; Age factors; Electronic health records; Washington
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-023-08146-7

Presence of at least one underlying health condition (UHC) is positively associated with severe COVID-19, but there is limited research examining this association by age group, particularly among young adults. We examined age-stratified associations between any UHC and COVID-19-associated hospitalization using a retrospective cohort study of electronic health record data from the University of Washington Medicine healthcare system for adult patients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test from February 29, 2020, to March 13, 2021. Any UHC was defined as documented diagnosis of at least one UHC identified by the CDC as a potential risk factor for severe COVID-19. Adjusting for sex, age, race and ethnicity, and health insurance, we estimated risk ratios (aRRs) and risk differences (aRDs), overall and by age group (18-39, 40-64, and 65 + years). Among patients aged 18-39 (N = 3,249), 40-64 (N = 2,840), 65 + years (N = 1,363), and overall (N = 7,452), 57.5%, 79.4%, 89.4%, and 71.7% had at least one UHC, respectively. Overall, 4.4% of patients experienced COVID-19-associated hospitalization. For all age groups, the risk of COVID-19-associated hospitalization was greater for patients with any UHC vs. those without (18-39: 2.2% vs. 0.4%; 40-64: 5.6% vs. 0.3%; 65 + : 12.2% vs. 2.8%; overall: 5.9% vs. 0.6%). The aRR comparing patients with vs. those without UHCs was notably higher for patients aged 40-64 years (aRR [95% CI] for 18-39: 4.3 [1.8, 10.0]; 40-64: 12.9 [3.2, 52.5]; 65 + : 3.1 [1.2, 8.2]; overall: 5.3 [3.0, 9.6]). The aRDs increased across age groups (aRD [95% CI] per 1,000 SARS-CoV-2-positive persons for 18-39: 10 [2, 18]; 40-64: 43 [33, 54]; 65 + : 84 [51, 116]; overall: 28 [21, 35]). Individuals with UHCs are at significantly increased risk of COVID-19-associated hospitalization regardless of age. Our findings support the prevention of severe COVID-19 in adults with UHCs in all age groups and in older adults aged 65 + years as ongoing local public health priorities.