The Prevalence of Arterial Hypertension Among Patients Hospitalized With Covid-19

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of arterial hypertension (AH) among patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 pneumonia and to discover the relationship between AH and the risk to be placed in ICU and mortality. Design and method: The study included 542 patients aged 18 to 98 years old with verified COVID-19 pneumonia by CT of the chest and PCR diagnosis of COIVD-19. Arterial hypertension was diagnosed by past medical history. Results: The patients’ age was 58 ± 15 years (n = 542), 53,9 (n = 292) of them were women. There were 49,3% (n = 267) patients with AH. The prevalence of AH was higher among women (63% (n = 169) compare to 37% (n = 98) of men) and older adults. The average age of patients with AH was 65,3 ± 14,5 years old compared to 50,1 ± 14,5 years old among patients without hypertension (p < 0,01). There was no statistical difference in NEWS scores between patients with and without arterial hypertension (p > 0,05). 16% of patients with AH were transferred to ICU, while only 10% without AH needed to be placed in ICU (p < 0,05). However, the mortality was higher in patients with arterial hypertension (8,6% compared to 0,7%, p < 0,05%). Conclusions: Arterial hypertension is relatively common among patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and is associated with higher mortality. However, arterial hypertension is more prevalent among older adults, and more detailed analysis should be performed to exclude confounding bias.