Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency and COVID-19 Mortality, ICU Admission, and Length of Hospitalization.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has severe consequences in terms of mortality and morbidity. Knowledge of factors that impact COVID-19 may be useful in the search for treatments.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency on morbidly and mortality associated with COVID-19.

METHODS: All patients admitted to Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center between 01 March 2020 and 03 May 2021 with a diagnosis of COVID-19 were included. We retrospectively retrieved demographic, clinical, and laboratory data from the hospital's electronic medical records. The main outcomes were mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and severity of COVID-19.

RESULTS: The presence of G6PD deficiency emerged as an independent protective predictor for ICU admission (odds ratio [OR] 0.258, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 0.077-0.619, P = 0.003) and the development of critical illness (OR 0.121, 95%CI 0.005-0.545, P = 0.006). Moreover, patients with G6PD deficiency had a trend toward lower mortality rates that did not reach statistical significance (OR 0.541, 95%CI 0.225-1.088, P = 0.10).

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with G6PD deficiency were less likely to have a severe disease, had lower rates of ICU admission, and trended toward lower mortality rates.