Hypothyroidism does not lead to worse prognosis in COVID-19: findings from the Brazilian COVID-19 registry

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.01.016Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • This study analyzed 526 patients with COVID-19 with hypothyroidism and 526 controls.

  • Patients with hypothyroidism required less intensive care interventions.

  • Patients with hypothyroidism showed a trend of lower in-hospital mortality.

  • Hypothyroidism does not seem to be associated with a worse prognosis in COVID-19.

Abstract

Background

It is not clear whether previous thyroid diseases influence the course and outcomes of COVID-19.

Methods

The study is a part of a multicentric cohort of patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis from 37 hospitals. Matching for age, sex, number of comorbidities, and hospital was performed for the paired analysis.

Results

Of 7,762 patients with COVID-19, 526 had previously diagnosed hypothyroidism and 526 were matched controls. The median age was 70 years, and 68.3% were females. The prevalence of comorbidities was similar, except for coronary and chronic kidney diseases that were higher in the hypothyroidism group (p=0.015 and p=0.001). D-dimer levels were lower in patients with hypothyroid (p=0.037). In-hospital management was similar, but hospital length-of-stay (p=0.029) and mechanical ventilation requirement (p=0.006) were lower for patients with hypothyroidism. There was a trend of lower in-hospital mortality in patients with hypothyroidism (22.1% vs 27.0%; p=0.062).

Conclusion

Patients with hypothyroidism had a lower requirement of mechanical ventilation and showed a trend of lower in-hospital mortality. Therefore, hypothyroidism does not seem to be associated with a worse prognosis.

Keywords

Hypothyroidism
COVID-19
Mortality
Prognosis
Epidemiology

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