Intest Res.  2022 Jan;20(1):134-143. 10.5217/ir.2020.00108.

Clinical presentation of COVID-19 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Singh AK
• Jena A
• Kumar-M P
• Jha DK
• Sharma V

• KMID: 2525080
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2020.00108

Abstract

Background/Aims
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is recognized to have variable clinical manifestations. The clinical presentation of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) having COVID-19 is unclear.
Methods
We identified articles reporting about the clinical presentation of COVID-19 in those with underlying IBD from PubMed and Embase. The studies, irrespective of design or language, were included. The overall pooled frequency of various symptoms was estimated. Joanna Briggs Institute Critical appraisal checklist was used to assess the quality of studies.
Results
Eleven studies, including 1,325 patients, were included in the pooled analysis. The pooled estimates for clinical presentation were; fever: 67.53% (95% confidence interval [CI], 45.38–83.88), cough: 59.58% (95% CI, 45.01–72.63), diarrhea: 27.26% (95% CI, 19.51–36.69), running nose: 27% (95% CI, 15.26–43.19) and dyspnea: 25.29% (95% CI, 18.52–33.52). The pooled prevalence rates for abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting were 13.08% (95% CI, 9.24–18.19), 10.08% (95% CI, 5.84–16.85) and 8.80% (95% CI, 4.43–16.70) per 100 population, respectively.
Conclusions
The clinical presentation of COVID-19 in IBD patients is similar to the general population.

Keyword

Coronavirus; Inflammatory bowel disease; Crohn disease; Ulcerative colitis; Diarrhea

Figure

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  Fig. 1. PRISMA flowchart showing the process of screening and inclusion. PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

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  Fig. 2. Pooled rates for gastrointestinal symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in inflammatory bowel disease patients. (A) Diarrhea, (B) vomiting, (C) nausea, and (D) abdominal pain. IV, inverse variance; CI, confidence interval.

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  Fig. 3. Pooled rates for extra-gastrointestinal symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in inflammatory bowel disease patients. (A) Fever, (B) cough, (C) sore throat, (D) dyspnea, (E) ageusia, (F) anosmia, (G) fatigue, (H) myalgia, and (I) running nose. IV, inverse variance; CI, confidence interval.

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  Fig. 4. Summary plot of various clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in inflammatory bowel disease. CI, confidence interval.

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