THE SEVERITY OF COVID-19 SYMPTOMS AMONG PATIENTS WITH COMORBIDITY AND ITS PREVENTIVE BEHAVIORS: A NARRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

In early 2020, the world was shocked by a new coronavirus variant called SARS-CoV-2 that caused COVID-19. The disease was first discovered in Wuhan, China, in November 2019. COVID-19 can infect both healthy people and those with comorbidity. An infected person might develop symptoms ranging from mild, such as cough and fever, to severe such as respiratory problems and decreased oxygen saturation. This study synthesizes the literature investigating the relationship between hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) comorbidities with the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and the adherence of patients with comorbidity to COVID-19 preventive behaviors. This study used a narrative review method by retrieving existing literature obtained through Google Scholar and PubMed search engines. This study involved eight relevant articles published between January 2020 and March 2022. COVID-19 patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) comorbidity were more likely to suffer severe symptoms than those without comorbidity. Furthermore, COVID-19 patients with comorbidity also had a higher mortality risk. Due to their fear of contracting COVID-19, people with comorbidity tend to adhere to COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Individuals with comorbidity have to increase awareness and implement preventive behaviors because of their higher susceptibility to prevent COVID-19 infection and the severity of its symptoms.