MORTALITY AMONG HISPANICS AND NON-HISPANICS WITH COMPARABLE COMORBIDITY BURDEN HOSPITALIZED FOR COVID-19

Abstract

SESSION TITLE: Impact of Health Disparities and DifferencesSESSION TYPE: Rapid Fire Original InvPRESENTED ON: 10/19/2022 11:15 am - 12:15 pmPURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an unexpected increase in mortality primarily among patients with preexisting comorbidities. San Antonio Texas and the surrounding areas are home to a proportionally larger Hispanic population relative to the remainder of the state and country. It has been well documented that patients with pre-existing comorbidities have increased mortality when admitted for COVID-19, but limited data are available regarding the Hispanic minority ethnic group. We determined whether Hispanic ethnicity contributed to 30-day mortality when compared to non-Hispanics among hospitalized COVID-19 patients with similar comorbidity burden.METHODS: We performed an observational cohort study among hospitalized patients that were enrolled at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) from April 1, 2020 until December 31, 2021 and diagnosed with COVID-19 disease. The index data was defined as the day of COVID-19 diagnosis according to the ICD-10 code U07.1. Our independent variable was stratified according to the Hispanic ethnic group. We included COVID-19 patients with similar comorbidity burden, defined by a Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) of greater than or equal to 1. A priori adjustment was performed for variables that influence clinical outcome such as age, gender, and CCI, respectively. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality. Descriptive and multivariate analysis were performed using the IBM SPSS statistics software.RESULTS: Of the 1257 hospitalized patients during the study period, 1038 met inclusion criteria. There were 372 (35.8%) Hispanics and 666 (64.2%) non-Hispanics. Hispanic patients had similar demographic characteristics to non-Hispanic patients, regarding median age in years (68 [56-73] vs. 68 [58-74], male gender (n=354 [95.2%] vs. n=610 [91.6%]) and median CCI (4.0 [2.0-6.8] vs. 4.0 [2.0-7.0]), respectively. The 30-day all-cause mortality was 13.8% (n=50) in the Hispanic group compared to 14.0% (n=93) in the non-Hispanic group (p=0.81). After adjusting for age, gender and CCI, Hispanics had a similar 30-day all-cause mortality to the non-Hispanic group of COVID-19 hospitalized (AOR 0.98, 95% CI 0.66-1.43, p=0.97).CONCLUSIONS: Hispanic ethnicity was not associated with an increased 30-day all-cause mortality in a population of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with similar comorbidity burden.CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Hispanic ethnicity does not appear to be an independent risk factor for increased mortality related to COVID-19DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Liwayway AndradeNo relevant relationships by Nicholas HodgemanNo relevant relationships by Marcos Restrepo SESSION TITLE: Impact of Health Disparities and Differences SESSION TYPE: Rapid Fire Original Inv PRESENTED ON: 10/19/2022 11:15 am - 12:15 pm PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an unexpected increase in mortality primarily among patients with preexisting comorbidities. San Antonio Texas and the surrounding areas are home to a proportionally larger Hispanic population relative to the remainder of the state and country. It has been well documented that patients with pre-existing comorbidities have increased mortality when admitted for COVID-19, but limited data are available regarding the Hispanic minority ethnic group. We determined whether Hispanic ethnicity contributed to 30-day mortality when compared to non-Hispanics among hospitalized COVID-19 patients with similar comorbidity burden. METHODS: We performed an observational cohort study among hospitalized patients that were enrolled at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) from April 1, 2020 until December 31, 2021 and diagnosed with COVID-19 disease. The index data was defined as the day of COVID-19 diagnosis according to the ICD-10 code U07.1. Our independent variable was stratified according to the Hispanic ethnic group. We included COVID-19 patients with similar comorbidity burden, defined by a Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) of greater than or equal to 1. A priori adjustment was performed for variables that influence clinical outcome such as age, gender, and CCI, respectively. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality. Descriptive and multivariate analysis were performed using the IBM SPSS statistics software. RESULTS: Of the 1257 hospitalized patients during the study period, 1038 met inclusion criteria. There were 372 (35.8%) Hispanics and 666 (64.2%) non-Hispanics. Hispanic patients had similar demographic characteristics to non-Hispanic patients, regarding median age in years (68 [56-73] vs. 68 [58-74], male gender (n=354 [95.2%] vs. n=610 [91.6%]) and median CCI (4.0 [2.0-6.8] vs. 4.0 [2.0-7.0]), respectively. The 30-day all-cause mortality was 13.8% (n=50) in the Hispanic group compared to 14.0% (n=93) in the non-Hispanic group (p=0.81). After adjusting for age, gender and CCI, Hispanics had a similar 30-day all-cause mortality to the non-Hispanic group of COVID-19 hospitalized (AOR 0.98, 95% CI 0.66-1.43, p=0.97). CONCLUSIONS: Hispanic ethnicity was not associated with an increased 30-day all-cause mortality in a population of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with similar comorbidity burden. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Hispanic ethnicity does not appear to be an independent risk factor for increased mortality related to COVID-19 DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Liwayway Andrade No relevant relationships by Nicholas Hodgeman No relevant relationships by Marcos Restrepo