Comorbidity Burden among Adults with Symptomatic COVID-19 Illness: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study examines the association of sociodemographic risk factors and the comorbidities of COVID-19. Most COVID-19-related studies were conducted in inpatient settings among patients with severe infection during the first and second waves of the pandemic. The third wave with less severe Omicron variant presented a unique opportunity to observe the adult patients treated in outpatient settings. We conducted a cross-sectional study (117 patients aged > 40 years presented with symptomatic COVID-19). We employed the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to compute comorbidity burden, Medical Outcomes Survey Short form (SF-12) to measure general health, and Self-care Self- Efficacy Scale (SCSES) to assess self-care ability. Fisher’s exact test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compute the relationship between comorbidities and demographics. This study report focuses on the distribution of the comorbidities and its relationship to demographic variables. The top five comorbidities were hypertension (42%), diabetes (31%), pulmonary disease/asthma (19%), depression (14%), and cancer (11%). Depression was significantly higher among younger age groups (p<0.01) and women (p<0.05). Age (p<0.0001) and income (p<0.01) were the most significantly associated demographics with the comorbidity burden. Incidence of pulmonary disease showed a positive association to educational status (p=0.05). This was the first study to report a significant prevalence of depression among adults with symptomatic COVID-19.