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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Jul 26.
Published in final edited form as: J Intern Med. 2020 Dec 6;289(4):463–473. doi: 10.1111/joim.13199

Table 1.

Summation of COVID-19 major risk factors and their drivers for risk.

COVID-19 Risk Factor Attribute for Risk Driver for Risk
Age

  • Older age

    • 62% of infections occur in <50 years of age

    • 95% of deaths occur in >50 years of age

  • Age versus presence of age-related co-morbidities
Co-morbidities

  • Diabetes

  • COPD

  • Chronic kidney disease

  • Hypertension

  • Cardiovascular disease

  • Obesity

  • Presence of co-morbidities

  • Co-morbidity-induced increase in ACE2 and/or TMPRSS2 expression
Race/ethnicity

  • African American or African ancestry

    • 3.6 X deaths vs White Americans

  • Native American

    • 3.4 X deaths vs White Americans

  • Latinx

    • 3.2 X deaths vs White Americans

  • Structural systemic socioeconomic disadvantages

  • Development and presence of co-morbidities
Gender

  • Male

    • 1.7 X deaths vs female

  • Androgen-driven ACE2 and/or TMPRSS2 expression