• Yun-Jing Zhang, Xi-Feng Sun, Bing Xie, Wen-Juan Feng, and Shi-Liang Han.
• Department of Nephrology, Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, China.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2021 Dec 1; 75 (12): e14900.

AimThis meta-analysis aimed to explore potential risk factors for severe Covid-19.MethodsWe systemically and comprehensively retrieved the eligible study evaluating clinical differences between severe vs non-severe Covid-19. Main effect sizes were demographic characteristics, comorbidities, signs and symptoms, laboratory findings as well as radiological features of chest CT.ResultsA total of 2566 Covid-19 people (771 in the severe group and 1795 in the non-severe group) from 14 studies were eligible for this meta-analysis. It was demonstrated that older age and males were more likely to have severe Covid-19. Patients with underlying comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and COPD were significantly more susceptible to severe Covid-19. Patients with dyspnoea were more likely to be severely ill. Depressed total lymphocytes were observed in this article. Meanwhile, although reticulation (30.8%), intrathoracic lymph node enlargement (20.5%) and pleural effusions (30.8%) were relatively infrequent, meta-analysis revealed that patients with these presentations in chest CT were associated with increased risk of severe Covid-19.ConclusionsThere are significant differences in clinical characteristics between the severe and non-severe Covid-19 patients. Many factors are related to the severity of the disease, which can help clinicians to differentiate severe patients from non-severe patients.© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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