Clinical characteristics and risk factors for mortality in patients with COVID-19 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Wuhan, China

Patients with COVID-19 and COPD are at high risks. However, the risk factors for mortality in COPD patients infected COVID-19 are limited. In this retrospective study, consecutive COPD cases infected COVID-19 in East District of People's Hospital of Wuhan University from Jan 11th 2020 to Mar 28th 2020 were included. Different outcomes were compared between dead and discharged patients. Cox regression analysis was performed to explore the risk factors for death. Totally, 52 cases were included (aged 64.0-79.0 years, 39 [75.0%] males). Common symptoms on admission were cough (43, 82.6%), fever (41, 78.8%) and expectoration (21, 40.3%). Thirty-eight (73.1%) patients were discharged, and 14 (26.9%) cases were dead which mainly caused by multiple organ failure (7, 50.0%) and respiratory failure (6, 42.9%). Multivariate analysis indicated that age > 70 years (HR, 7.859, 95% CI: 1.376, 44.875; P = 0.020) and count of lymphocyte ≤ 0.8×10 9 /L (HR, 27.429, 95% CI: 3.336, 225.530; P = 0.002) were risk factors for death. The study showed that close monitoring of the risk indexes is important for early supportive care during the management of patients with COVID-19 and COPD.