Study of COVID-19 in Ireland shows links between underlying conditions and poorer outcomes
2021-04-26
(Press-News.org) Monday, 26 April 2021: A national study of 20,000 patients conducted by RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has identified the underlying conditions that are associated with more severe outcomes from COVID-19 in an Irish setting.
The research, which has been published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, will help inform national public health policies and assist in future treatment and prevention strategies for people at most risk from the virus.
The study, which took place during the first wave of the pandemic between March and July 2020, is the first national surveillance study in Ireland that captures data from both hospital and community settings. Data was collected by HPSC for almost 20,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The association between underlying conditions and more severe outcomes from COVID-19 was examined, including mortality, admission to hospital or admission to ICU.
Amongst the patients studied, there were 1,476 (7.5%) deaths, 2,811 (14%) hospitalisations and 438 (2%) ICU admissions. The conditions that were identified in the study as carrying the most risk were chronic heart disease, a chronic neurological condition, chronic kidney disease and cancer. Patients who were morbidly obese (defined as a Body Mass Index equal to or greater than 40) were also identified as being at higher risk of more severe outcomes from COVID-19.
Professor Kathleen Bennett, Associate Professor in Biostatistics, RCSI said: "Previous studies conducted have suggested that specific underlying conditions influence adverse health outcomes among those with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. However, the majority of these studies have focussed on hospital-based or local populations only. This study is the first population-based research to capture data across all settings in Ireland, including both community and hospital settings and so it gives us a better picture of the impact of the disease on patients at the population level.
"The findings are of particular relevance as the national vaccination programme is well underway including those at very high risk and high risk from the most severe outcomes of COVID-19."
Dr John Cuddihy, Director of the HPSC said: "This study would not have been possible without the commitment of the staff of the HSE Public Health Departments, the HSE Contact Management Programme (CMP) and HPSC, in collecting and analysing the data. We are also very grateful for the cooperation of the patients who were interviewed and shared their insights as part of the study."
In the study, non-severe cases were interviewed via the telephone by regional contact tracing centres or departments of Public Health. Data on hospitalised or severe cases was collected by Public Health or Contact Tracing teams, with some information being provided by hospital teams. Data collected included age, sex, community health organisation, living in a residential care facility or not and likely source of transmission (close contact of a known confirmed case, community transmission, travel related, healthcare acquired or unknown).
INFORMATION:
The study was conducted by researchers from RCSI, supported by the Health Service Executive and Health Protection Surveillance Centre. Authors, Prof. Kathleen Bennett and Dr Maeve Mullooly were supported by funding from the Health Research Board.
About RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences is a world-leading university for Good Health and Well-being. Ranked second in the world for its contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2021, it is exclusively focused on education and research to drive improvements in human health worldwide.
RCSI is an international not-for-profit university, headquartered in Dublin. It is among the top 250 universities worldwide in the World University Rankings (2020) and its research is ranked first in Ireland for citations. RCSI has been awarded Athena Swan Bronze accreditation for positive gender practice in higher education.
Visit the RCSI MyHealth Expert Directory to find the details of our experts across a range of healthcare issues and concerns. Recognising their responsibility to share their knowledge and discoveries to empower people with information that leads them to better health, these clinicians and researchers are willing to engage with the media in their area of expertise.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-04-26
MINNEAPOLIS/ST.PAUL (04/26/2021) -- A new study by five doctoral students in neuroscience at the University of Minnesota Medical School calls attention to a lack of regulation and unknown long-term health effects of tear gas. Based on their research, the group recommends changing the protocols around the use of tear gas as a crowd control measure at both the local and national level.
"Following the murder of George Floyd and the protests in our city, we felt compelled to dig into the police force used during those protests. We are trained to look at data and ...
2021-04-26
A NUST MISIS professor was part of an international research team that has found evidence for the existence of the Zeeman spin-orbit coupling in antiferromagnetic conductors. This work may pave the way for the next generation of electronics. The study was published in npj Quantum Materials.
The electron possesses two fundamental properties: charge and spin. Conventional electronic devices use only the charge of electron for information processing. In recent years, an enormous research effort has been focused on building fundamentally new electronic devices (often called "spintronic devices") that would specifically exploit spin properties in addition to charge degrees of freedom. Transfer from conventional electronics to spintronics technology opens the possibilities to construct devices ...
2021-04-26
BROOKLYN, New York, Thursday, April 22, 2021 - Rising sea levels and more powerful cyclonic storms, phenomena driven by the warming of oceans due to climate change, puts at immediate or potential risk an estimated 680 million people living in low-lying coastal zones (a number projected to reach more than one billion by 2050). In nations like Bangladesh these populations are already moving to escape sea-level rise.
In a new study, "Modeling human migration under environmental change: a case study of the effect of sea level rise in Bangladesh," researchers led by Maurizio Porfiri, an engineer at ...
2021-04-26
Blood transfusions are a common procedure in medical practice in which donated blood is used to replace blood lost to injury or surgery or to treat serious medical conditions. The procedure is not performed as routinely in the treatment of pet cats - but, as in people, can be lifesaving. The availability of donors has been a limitation in primary care veterinary practice, but with the growth of blood banks providing greater access to feline blood, the procedure is likely to become more commonplace.
To address the need for authoritative guidance, not only on best practice but also some important considerations beyond the clinical procedure itself, the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) has today published consensus guidelines in the Journal ...
2021-04-26
From Cat's-Whisker detectors in the early 1900s to electronic circuit chips in modern-day mobile phones, electronic devices have been modified in myriad creative ways to adapt to the needs of humankind. Apart from increasing the efficiency of conventionally used semiconductors such as silicon, recent research has focused on exploring more cost effective semiconductor materials. In tune with these requirements, a new publication in Nature Materials has successfully tweaked low cost semiconducting materials, quite similar to the composition of plastic, into conducting electricity more efficiently than before.
Solar cells have the property to convert ...
2021-04-26
A study by a University of Illinois Chicago pediatric dentist has shown a novel way to track potential COVID-19 cases -- testing children who visit the dentist. The study also showed an over 2% positivity rate for the asymptomatic children tested.
Dr. Flavia Lamberghini, UIC clinical assistant professor in the department of pediatric dentistry, has co-authored the article, "Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in asymptomatic pediatric dental patients," in the April 2021 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association. Co-authors are Dr. Fernando Testai, UIC professor ...
2021-04-26
Brain changes in people with Alzheimer's disease and in those with mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) have significant similarities, a new USC study shows, suggesting new ways to identify patients at high risk for Alzheimer's. The findings appear this week in GeroScience.
TBIs, which affect over 1.7 million Americans every year, are often followed by changes in brain structure and function and by cognitive problems such as memory deficits, impaired social function and difficulty with decision-making. Although mild TBI -- also known as concussion -- is a known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, ...
2021-04-26
Amsterdam, April 26, 2021 - Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) face a wide range of symptoms and challenges. A team from Parkinson's UK, including several Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) contributors, surveyed patients to find out which PD symptoms troubled them most and how priorities may change with condition duration. Their goal was to identify where improved treatments and strategies are most needed to help maintain independence and quality of life. They report their findings in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.
"While PD has some common features such as tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia, the disease is highly varied, with each individual experiencing their own unique blend of symptoms ...
2021-04-26
Violent continental collisions and volcanic eruptions are not things normally associated with comfortable conditions for life. However, a new study, involving University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Associate Professor of Microbiology Karen Lloyd, unveils a large microbial ecosystem living deep within the earth that is fueled by chemicals produced during these tectonic cataclysms.
When oceanic and continental plates collide, one plate is pushed down, or subducted, into the mantle and the other plate is pushed up and studded with volcanoes. This is the main process by which chemical elements are moved between Earth's surface and interior and eventually recycled back to ...
2021-04-26
A Lancaster University professor has introduced a new concept for rapidly analysing for the presence of a virus from colds to coronaviruses.
Based on analysing chemical elements the methodology, which has been adapted from an analytical technique used to identify metallic nanoparticles, is able to detect the presence of viruses within just 20 seconds.
Although the tests would need to be performed in a lab, it could be used to quickly identify whether people admitted to hospitals have been infected by a virus - enabling clinicians to decide treatments and also whether to admit patients into isolation wards.
The ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Study of COVID-19 in Ireland shows links between underlying conditions and poorer outcomes
