COVID-19 from the patients's p erspective: Preliminary results of online survey

Karateev, D.; Pchelnikova, P.; Luchikhina, E.; Boboshko, T.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also known as COVID-19, is now in the spotlight of the medical community. Obtaining the most complete data on COVID-19 in the rheumatic diseases (RD) is an urgent task, and the data received directly from patients seems to be is extremely important. Objectives: To study the factors, associated with the possibility of COVID-19 in patients with RDs. Methods: We conduct COVID-19 Russian rheumatology patient experience survey to create a registry of “Patient's Opinion on COVID-19 in Rheumatic Diseases (POPCORD)”. This ongoing project is based on the data collected directly from Russian-speaking patients with different RDs who fill out a special questionnaire via the https://revmo-covid.ru/. The questionnaire was developed by the national patient organization -Russian Rheumatology Association “Nadezhda” in collaboration with Moscow regional rheumatology center and department of rheumatology of Moscow Regional Research and clinical institute n.a. M.F. Vladimirsky (MONIKI). The anonymous questionnaire includes information on whether the patient had COVID-19, as well as information on rheumatic disease, its treatment, and information on social distancing and compliance with other anti-epidemic measures. Results: At the moment, 1050 patients (92% from Russia, 8% from other countries) completed the survey, including residents of 74 regions of Russia, most of them from Moscow (20%), Moscow region (8%) and St. Petersburg (8%). In total, there were 93% females, with mean age 40,28±11,26 (M±SD, median 38 [32;48]), BMI 24,52±5,38 (median 23,42 [21;27]), disease duration 7,91±8,46 (median 5,00 [2;11]). The main diagnoses reported: rheumatoid arthritis (49%), ankylosing spondylitis (14%), systemic lupus erythematosus (13%), psoriatic arthritis (6%), Sjogren's disease (5%), systemic sclerosis (3%), other (10%). 344 (31,8%) patients reported COVID-19 or suspected SASR-CoV-2 viral pneumonia. Relatives or physicians reported 3 cases of death related to COVID-19. The most important results of the survey presented in Table 1. Conclusion: According to patient-reported data, lack of adherence to social distancing and hygienic measures, higher possibility of contacts with infected persons, as well as withdrawal of anti-rheumatic medication for fear of infection and smoking status were the factors, significantly associated with the possibility of COVID-19/viral pneumonia in patients with rheumatic diseases.