Common Health Conditions that May Increase Risk of Complications from Coronavirus
Case studies on patients that have contracted COVID-19 have found that older patients with preexisting health conditions more commonly develop severe symptoms. Here's what we know about how various health issues may affect coronavirus:
According to a report on patient characteristics from Italy's National Institute of Health released on March 17th, 99% of COVID-19 patients who have died in the country had at least one preexisting condition.
In Italy, 76.1% of patients who died from COVID-19 had hypertension, or high blood pressure.
About one-quarter of people who died from the coronavirus in Italy had atrial fibrillation.
Diabetes was the second most common condition among COVID-19 patients who died: 35.5% had the illness.
Of those who died in Italy, 20.3% had active cancer in the past five years.
The study found that 18% of people who died had chronic kidney disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — or lung diseases such as chronic emphysema and bronchitis — was present in 13.2% of the people who died.
People who previously had a stroke made up 9.6% of COVID-19 patients who died in Italy.
In Italy, 6.8% of COVID-19 patients who died had dementia.
Chronic liver disease was the 10th most common underlying condition among COVID-19 patients who died.