Confirmed to what doctors across the county have observed, a cohort study of 5,700 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the state of New York have confirmed that patients with obesity, diabetes, and hypertension (high blood pressure) are more likely to suffer from coronavirus complications. You can read more here. Patient population in New York was chosen because its rate of infection was the highest in States and “has more than 30% of all of the US cases.”1 Specifically, those patients were admitted to 12 hospitals in NYC, Long Island, and Westchester County, New York, all within the Northwell Health system. The median age of admitted patients were 63 years old, with a range of 52 to 75 years old. About 60 percent of them are males. The result yielded that 57 percent of patients had high blood pressure, 41 percent had obesity, and over 33 percent were diabetic. The implication from this study shed some light on how to care more effectively for patients. For example, patients with chronic conditions listed above should contact their doctors immediately when experience coronavirus-related symptoms. On the other hand, doctors can target coronavirus patients with those conditions with a greater emphasis and treat more intensively prior to condition exacerbation, thereby likely reducing death rate.
Sources
1. Richardson et al (2020). https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765184?guestAccessKey=906e474e-0b94-4e0e-8eaa-606ddf0224f5&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=042220#joi200043r3
2. Richardson et al (2020). https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765184?guestAccessKey=906e474e-0b94-4e0e-8eaa-606ddf0224f5&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=042220
3. Edwards (2020). https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/sickest-covid-19-patients-underlying-conditions-are-common-large-study-n1189906