The probability of dying with COVID-19 does not rise, according to recent research from Boston Medical Center. The study, which was published in Substance Abuse: Research and Therapy, demonstrated that co-occurring medical disorders may be to blame for the elevated risk for severe COVID-19 in individuals with SUD.
While other studies found no association between SUD and COVID-19-related mortality or inconsistent results depending on substance use pattern, numerous large cohort studies from the early stages of the pandemic have shown higher rates of hospitalization, intubation, and death from COVID-19 in those with SUD. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated people with SUD as suggestive of increased risk for severe COVID-19 due to these contradictory evidence.
The study was conducted at BMC, which has a high percentage of patients who use drugs. Over 14% of the study group had SUD, which was higher than the 10.8% national norm for those 18 and older. Researchers examined the likelihood of COVID-19-related complications between individuals with and without drug use disorders by reviewing the medical records of 353 adults without SUD and 56 adults with SUD hospitalized to Boston Medical Center early during the COVID-19 epidemic. They investigated how COVID-19 and mortality, clinical consequences, and resource use were related to one another.
Early in the epidemic, according to senior author Sabrina Assoumou, MD, MPH, an infectious disease specialist at Boston Medical Center, “BMC implemented protocols to carefully monitor and promptly manage COVID-19-related problems in all hospitalized patients.”
SUD was not linked to the main outcome of COVID-19-associated inpatient mortality in this retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to a safety net hospital during the early stages of the pandemic. The secondary analysis revealed that clinical complications associated with COVID-19, such as secondary infections, renal failure necessitating dialysis, acute liver injury, venous thromboembolism, cardiac complications, and the composite “any complications,” were experienced similarly by people with and without SUD.
It should be noted that some clinical consequences, such stroke, were remarkably rare overall. The secondary outcomes of resource consumption between the two groups did not differ either. This study discovered comparable probabilities of mechanical breathing and ICU hospitalization in patients with and without SUD, in contrast to prior studies. Despite the fact that SUD patients arrived to the hospital sooner in their
