Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37532478›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2023

Nationwide analysis of the impact of COVID-19 in patients with a cardiovascular, oncological or chronic pulmonary disease in the context of an Eastern European country with a low vaccination rate, Bulgaria: March 2020-April 2022.

George Dimitrov, Trifon Valkov, Hristiana Batselova, Ognyan Kounchev, Georgi Momekov, Radka Argirova

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

George DimitrovMedical University Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria g.dimitrov12@alumni.imperial.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-9925-9025
Trifon ValkovMedical University Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Hristiana BatselovaDepartment of Epidemiology and Disaster Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Ognyan KounchevInstitute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Georgi MomekovMedical University Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Radka ArgirovaDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, Acibadem City Clinic Tokuda Hospital, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Medical University of Sofia · BGBulgarian Academy of Sciences · BGMedical University Plovdiv · BGTokuda Hospital · BG

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThis study focused on Bulgarian patient cohorts harbouring a single documented chronic comorbidity-cardiovascular pathology, an oncological disease or a chronic pulmonary diseases (CPD) comparing the outcomes in fully vaccinated and non-vaccinated populations classified by sex and age groups in ambulatory, hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) settings at the national level.

designRetrospective analysis SETTINGS, PARTICIPANTS AND OUTCOME MEASURES: In total, 1 126 946 patients with confirmed COVID-19, on a national level, were retrospectively analysed between March 2020 and April 2022, using data from the Ministry of Health's United Information Portal, launched in March 2020.

resultsOf all the confirmed 247 441 hospitalised cases of COVID-19, 67 723 (27.3%) had documented cardiovascular disease (CVD), 2140 (0.9%) had confirmed solid malignancy (regardless of stage) and 3243 (1.3%) had established CPD as their only chronic pathology. The number of cumulative deaths in each subgroup was 10 165 (in-hospital=5812 and ICU=4353); 4.0% vaccinated (410/10 165, p<0.001), 344 (in-hospital=196 and ICU=148), 4.9% vaccinated (17/344, p<0.001), 494 (in-hospital=287 and ICU=207) and 5.2% vaccinated (26/494, p<0.001), respectively. Statistical significance (p<0.001) was obtained in favour of reduced ambulatory, hospitalisation and both in-hospital and ICU-related mortality in the vaccinated cohorts, and BNT162b2 was the most effective at preventing mortality in all age groups.

conclusionsThis retrospective analysis shows that patients vaccinated against COVID-19 demonstrated trends of reduced hospitalisations and premature mortality in patients with CVD, solid malignancy or CPD as a single comorbidity.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesCOVID-19BNT162 VaccineBulgariaHospitalizationHumansRetrospective StudiesBNT162 VaccineCOVID-19PREVENTIVE MEDICINEPublic health

Identifiers

PMID37532478
PMCPMC10401219
OpenAlexW4385480773

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.