%0 Journal Article %A Alsaed, Omar %A Alemadi, Samar %A Satti, Eman %A Becetti, Karima %A Saleh, Rawan %A Ashour, Hadil %A Hamed, Miral %A Alam, Fiaz %A Alrimawi, Yousef %A Nader, Joanne %A Chaponda, Masautso %A Awadh, Basem %A Hammoudeh, Mohammad %T Risk of Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Patients with Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases in Qatar: A Cohort Matched Study %D 2022 %J Qatar Medical Journal, %V 2022 %N 3 %@ 2227-0426 %C 24 %R https://doi.org/10.5339/qmj.2022.24 %K Autoimmune rheumatic disease, Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, Poor prognostic factors, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 %I Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press), %X Background: It remains unclear whether patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) are at a higher risk of poor outcomes from a SARS-CoV-2 infection. We evaluated whether patients with an ARDs infected with SARS-CoV-2 were at a higher risk of a poorer outcome than those without an ARDs. Methods: Patients with an ARDs infected with SARS-CoV-2 were matched to control patients without a known ARDs. Matching was performed according to age ( ± 6 years) and sex at a case-to-control ratio of 1:3. Demographic and clinical data were extracted from the databases and were compared between the two groups. Severe SARS-CoV-2 infection was the primary outcome and was defined as the requirement for oxygen therapy support, the need for invasive or noninvasive mechanical ventilation, or the use of glucocorticoids. Results: A total of 141 patients with an ARDs were matched to 398 patients who formed the control group. The mean ages (SD) of the ARDs and non-ARDs groups were 44.4 years (11.4) and 43.4 years (12.2). Women accounted for 58.8% of the ARDs group and 56.3% of the control group (p = 0.59). Demographics and comorbidities were balanced between the groups. ARDs included connective tissue disease in 43 (30.3%) patients, inflammatory arthritis in 92 (65.2%), and other ARDs in 8 (5.7%). ARDs medications included biological/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/ts-DMARDs) in 28 (15.6%) patients, conventional synthetic DMARDs in 95 (67.4%), and immunosuppressive antimetabolites in 13 (9.2%). The ARDs group had more respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms related to SARS-CoV-2 infection than the control group (24.8% and 20.6% vs. 10% and 5.3%, respectively; p <  0.001 for both). Severe SARS-CoV-2 infection was more common in the ARDs group than in the control group (14.9% vs. 5.8%; p <  0.001). Conclusions: In this single-center matched cohort study, patients with an ARDs experienced more respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms related to SARS-CoV-2 infection and had more severe infection than those from the control group. Therefore, patients with an ARDs require close observation during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. %U https://www.qscience.com/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2022.24