Association of pre-pandemic high-density lipoprotein cholesterol with risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation and death: The UK Biobank cohort study

  1. Camille Lassale
  2. Mark Hamer
  3. Álvaro Hernáez
  4. Catharine R. Gale
  5. G. David Batty

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Abstract

No abstract available

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  1. Version published to 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101461
  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.01.20.21250152v2 on medRxiv
  3. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.01.20.21250152: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: Ethical approval was provided by the North-West Multi-centre Research Ethics Committee (11/NW/0382; 16/NW/0274).
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Study strengths and weaknesses: The strengths of this study include the measurement of biomarkers that preceded the onset of COVID-19, so ruling out reverse causality. While large, the study sample is also well-characterised. That UK Biobank participants represent only 6% of the target population, however, means that the present data cannot be used to estimate prevalence or incidence in the general population, although established risk factor associations appear generalisable.27 HDL-C levels were measured up to 14 years before COVID-19 case assessment and this raises concerns about their utility for current values, however, in a reassessment a mean of 4.4 years after baseline examination they showed high test-retest stability (correlation coefficient 0.85, p<0.001) in a subsample (N=13,430). While the HDL-C–COVID-19 gradient was robust to the adjustment of various covariates, it is plausible that unmeasured confounding factors might explain the association. To this extent, because the data are observational, we cannot be dogmatic about causality. Further scrutiny of our results, including the application of the Mendelian Randomisation approach where a genetic proxy for HDL-C is used as the exposure of interest, is required. In conclusion, the novel association between higher levels of HDL-C and lower risk of hospitalisation and death due to COVID-19 warrant testing in using other study designs.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  4. Version published to 10.1101/2021.01.20.21250152v1 on medRxiv