Abstract
Objectives: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection was declared a pandemic in March 2020 and has affected the entire world. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been concern about whether patients with rheumatic diseases are at an increased risk of COVID-19-related morbidity or mortality.
Materials and Methods: In this study, patients who applied to the rheumatology outpatient clinic in the Ağrı province between November 2018 and June 2021 and were followed up with a diagnosis of rheumatologic disease were included. Rheumatological diseases, demographics, and COVID-19 data were collected retrospectively.
Results: Of the 1,170 patients included in the study, 58.6% (686) were female and 41.4% (484) were male, the mean age was 45.6±15.7 years and 18.9% (221) of the patients were COVID-19 positive. COVID-19 positive patients had a hospitalization rate of 13%, an intensive care unit stays rate of 5%, a mortality rate of 3.2%, and a computed tomography-detected lung involvement rate of 19%. COVID-19 positivity was associated with gender (p=0.04), sulphasalazine (SLZ) use (p=0.01), hypertension (HT) (p=0.02) and age (p=0.008). In the regression analysis performed to determine the risk factors for COVID positivity, only SLZ use was associated with a 2.1-fold increase in COVID risk. In the COVID-19 positive patient population, death was associated with rituximab use (p<0.001), HT (p=0.001) and age (p=0.001). In the regression analysis performed to determine the risk factors for death in COVID-19 positive patients, only age was associated with the risk of death.
Conclusion: In this study, the COVID-19 experience of rheumatology patients was followed up in a single center; the frequency of COVID-19 in rheumatology patients was found to be similar to Türkiye in general; and death from COVID-19 was found to be age-related.