The Relationship Between AB0 Phenotypes and Mortality in COVID-19 Patients Followed Up in the Intensive Care Unit: Retrospective Descriptive Study

ABS TRACT Objective: COVID-19 started in late 2019 and quickly turned into a global epidemic. There are studies showing that patients with O blood group phenotype can be protected from COVID-19 infection, whereas individuals with A blood group may be at higher risk. We aimed to investigate the relationship between distribution and mortality to disease associated with ABO blood groups in cases diagnosed with COVID-19 followed in tertiary intensive care unit. Material and Methods: The cases followed between 01.04.2020-01.06.2021 in the 3rd level COVID intensive care unit of our hospital were evaluated retrospectively. As a control group for the prevalence of blood group phenotype, the blood group results of cases other than COVID-19 who applied to the blood center of our hospital during the study period were evaluated. For the expected mortality rates, a study conducted in the intensive care unit was used by making a literature search. The chi-square test was used for statistical analysis to compare the observed and expected distribution of ABO blood groups. Results: The distribution of ABO phenotype was found to be similar to the expected distribution in the population. When all patients were examined, a 28-day mortality was found at a rate of 50.6%. Mortality rates are similar to the distribution of general blood groups according to ABO phenotypes. In our study, mortality rates of O, A and B blood groups were found to be significantly higher than the reference publication. Conclusion: Our study suggests that patients’ blood group phenotypes are not a risk factor for COVID-19-related critical illness and 28-day mortality.