Increasing age, comorbidities, and corticosteroids are associated with severe COVID-19 among IBD patients. Notably, TNF antagonists do not appear to be associated with severe COVID-19. That was found in a large, international registry created to monitor outcomes of IBD patients with confirmed COVID-19, called SECURE-IBD.
The impact of COVID-19 on patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not well characterized. The SECURE-IBD survey characterized the clinical course of COVID-19 among IBD patients and evaluated the association between demographics, clinical characteristics, and immuno-suppressant treatments on COVID-19 outcomes.
Reported were 959 COVID-19 cases from 40 countries (median age 43 years, 52% men). Of those, 86 patients (9%) had severe COVID-19, 320 (33%) were hospitalized, and 37 patients died (3.9% case fatality rate). Age-standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for IBD patients were:
Furthermore, the investigators aimed to identify factors associated with severe COVID-19, defined as intensive care unit admission, ventilator use, and/or death, using multivariable logistic regression.
Risk factors found for severe COVID-19 among IBD patients in the current study included:
In contrast, TNF antagonist treatment was not associated with severe COVID-19 (aOR 0.9).
The SECURE-IBD registry showed an association between increasing age, comorbidities, and corticosteroids and severe COVID-19 among IBD patients. Nevertheless, no association was found for TNF antagonists with severe COVID-19.
Source:
1. Ungaro R. Impact of COVID-19 on patients with inflammatory bowel disease: data from an international registry. UEG Week Virtual Symposium 2020, abstract OP153.