RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To calculate the rates of COVID-19 infection and COVID-19-related death among people with rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases (RAIRD) during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, and describe the impact of corticosteroids on outcomes. METHODS: Hospital Episode Statistics data were used to identify people alive 01 August 2020 with ICD-10 codes for RAIRD from the whole population of England. Linked national health records were used to calculate rates and rate ratios of COVID-19 infection and death up to 30 April 2021. Primary definition of COVID-19-related death was mention of COVID-19 on the death certificate. NHS Digital and Office for National Statistics general population data were used for comparison. The association between 30-day corticosteroid usage and COVID-19-related death, COVID-19-related hospital admissions and all-cause deaths were also described. RESULTS: Of 168 330 people with RAIRD, 9,961 (5.92%) had a positive COVID-19 PCR test. The age-standardised infection rate ratio between RAIRD and the general population was 0.99 (95% CI 0.97-1.00). 1,342 (0.80%) people with RAIRD died with COVID-19 on their death certificate and the age-sex-standardised mortality rate for COVID-19-related death was 2.76 (2.63-2.89) times higher than in the general population. There was a dose-dependent relationship between 30-day corticosteroid usage and COVID-19-related death. There was no increase in deaths due to other causes. CONCLUSIONS: During the second wave of COVID-19 in England, people with RAIRD had the same risk of COVID-19 infection but a 2.76-fold increased risk of COVID-19-related death compared with the general population, with corticosteroids associated with increased risk.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To calculate the rates of COVID-19 infection and COVID-19-related death among people with rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases (RAIRD) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in England compared with the general population. METHODS: We used Hospital Episode Statistics to identify all people alive on 1 March 2020 with ICD-10 codes for RAIRD from the whole population of England. We used linked national health records (demographic, death certificate, admissions and PCR testing data) to calculate rates of COVID-19 infection and death up to 31 July 2020. Our primary definition of COVID-19-related death was mention of COVID-19 on the death certificate. General population data from Public Health England and the Office for National Statistics were used for comparison. We also describe COVID-19-related hospital admissions and all-cause deaths. RESULTS: We identified a cohort of 168 680 people with RAIRD, of whom 1874 (1.11%) had a positive COVID-19 PCR test. The age-standardized infection rate was 1.54 (95% CI: 1.50, 1.59) times higher than in the general population. A total of 713 (0.42%) people with RAIRD died with COVID-19 on their death certificate and the age-sex-standardized mortality rate for COVID-19-related death was 2.41 (2.30-2.53) times higher than in the general population. There was no evidence of an increase in deaths from other causes in the RAIRD population. CONCLUSIONS: During the first wave of COVID-19 in England, people with RAIRD had a 54% increased risk of COVID-19 infection and more than twice the risk of COVID-19-related death compared with the general population. These increases were seen despite shielding policies.