Demographic Characteristics & Risk Factors of Patients with Covid- 19: A Rapid Review

Aim: To determine the demographic characteristics & demographic risk factors among COVID-19 patients who tested positive on the reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction test (RT-PCR). Methods: The researchers utilized a rapid review of existing online databases in searching for cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies. Two people appraised the included studies independently to ensure eligibility and increase efficiency. The researchers compared the data between studies. Results: A total of 106 studies from five continents (Africa = 5; Asia = 79; Europe = 9; North America = 11; South America = 3) were reviewed. Out of 74,203 patients, 56,073 reported having mild to moderate COVID-19 severity. An increased incidence and risk of severity and mortality of COVID-19 was observed in older men (average mean = 47.28 ± 15.02; average median = 50.38 [0.01-95.0]), specifically ≥75 years old (odds ratio range: 5.6-37.9; n = 2) with accompanying comorbidities such as hypertension (19.17%; OR range: 1.5-4.6), diabetes (14.87%; OR range: 0.9-64.1), cardiac and cardiovascular disease (8.59%), chronic renal disease (8.06%; OR range: 0.3 - 13.4), asthma (5.17%; OR: 1.7) and others (34.8%). Conclusion and Implications: The study determined the common demographic characteristics among patients with COVID-19 as male patients with old age and with underlying conditions like hypertension, diabetes, cardiac and cardiovascular disease, chronic renal diseases, and asthma. Most included studies report increased risk of COVID-19 infection from the common characteristics and comorbidities regardless of study origin. This study will be beneficial for the formulation & implementation of interventions & future research on COVID-19.