Association between chronic health conditions and severe acute respiratory syndrome in pregnant women: an exploratory study.
José Cláudio Garcia Lira Neto, Márcio Flávio Moura de Araújo, Flavia Paula Magalhães Monteiro and 6 others
PMID 39584800WHAT IT FOUND
In 1,152 pregnant women hospitalized with SARS, diabetes, neurological disease, and substance use appeared more often with COVID-19 than influenza.
Mortality was 7%, and confirmation took 42.6 days.
Key findings
01Among 1,152 pregnant women hospitalized with SARS, diabetes, neurological disease, and substance use were reported more often among COVID-19 cases than influenza cases.
02The mortality rate for SARS was 7%, and 97% of deaths were from COVID-19.
03Diagnostic confirmation took a mean of 42.6 days, and investigation time rose weakly with the number of comorbidities.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used hospital surveillance records, so it could not collect specific clinical or laboratory indicators for each health condition. Substance use was based on self-report and may have been underreported. The influenza group was very small. Comparisons with COVID-19 are uncertain. All participants were already hospitalized with SARS, so the study cannot show whether chronic conditions caused SARS or made it more severe. The study did not explain why diagnostic investigation took longer for some groups.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read diabetes, neurological disease, or substance use as proven causes of worse SARS outcomes. The study compared pregnant women already hospitalized with SARS by influenza or COVID-19, had a very small influenza group, and used record-based associations, so it cannot show that any condition caused severe disease.