Association of Hypertension with Severity and Mortality in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: A Single-centered, Retrospective Study.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread worldwide.

Objective: To investigate the association between hypertension and severity/mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China.

Methods: A total of 337 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at the Seventh Hospital of Wuhan City, from January 20 to February 25, 2020, were enrolled and analyzed in a retrospective, single-center case study. The significance level adopted in the statistical analysis was 0.05.

Results: Of the 337 patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, 297 (87.8%) were discharged from the hospital and 40 patients (22.9%) died. The median age was 58 years (range, 18-91 years). There were 112 (33.2%) patients diagnosed with hypertension at admission (median age, 65.0 years [range, 38-91 years]; 67 [59.8%, 95%CI: 50.6%-69.0%] men, p=0.0209). Patients with hypertension presented a significantly higher portion of severe cases (69 [61.6%, 95%CI:52.5%-70.8%] vs. 117 [52.0%, 95%CI: 45.4%-58.6%] in severe patients and 23 [19.3%, 95%CI:12.9%-28.1%] vs. 27 [12.0%, 95%CI: 7.7%-16.3%] in critical patients, p=0.0014) and higher mortality rates (20 [17.9%, 95%CI: 10.7%-25.1%] vs. 20 [8.9%, 95%CI: 5.1%-12.6%, p=0.0202). Moreover, hypertensive patients presented abnormal levels of multiple indicators, such as lymphopenia, inflammation, heart, liver, kidney, and lung function at admission. The hypertension group still displayed higher levels of TnT and creatinine at approaching discharge.

Conclusion: Hypertension is strongly associated with severity or mortality of COVID-19. Aggressive treatment may be considered for COVID-19 patients with hypertension, especially regarding cardiac and kidney injury.