Publication, Part of National Pulmonary Hypertension Audit
National Audit of Pulmonary Hypertension, 13th Annual Report
Audit, Open data
Future publication format
Please note that future reports will be web-based only. This is to improve the accessibility of our publications.
19 January 2023 09:30 AM
COVID-19-related mortality
- Pulmonary hypertension has many causes and is a condition with a high morbidity and mortality rate. Given the reduced cardiorespiratory reserve and the reported high incidence of thrombosis seen in COVID-19 infection, it would be expected that this group of patients would be at high risk of mortality should they develop COVID-19 infection.
- A COVID-19-related death was identified using ICD-10 codes defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in April 2020, specifically where the person had the ICD-10 code U07.1 (confirmed COVID-19) or U07.2 (probable or suspected COVID-19) recorded as either a primary, underlying or secondary cause of death.
- Both dates and causes of death were traced from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) using patient NHS number. Patients submitted by the Scottish PH centre (Golden Jubilee) could not be traced in the ONS mortality data because they are pseudonymised in NAPH (1). A small number of patients (35) had date of death sourced from the NAPH-only. Cause of death was not available for these patients.
- Adults with PH from England and Wales (defined by latest home postcode).
- There were 362 COVID-19-related deaths in adults (2) with PH between March 2020 and October 2022.
- The highest number of COVID-19-related deaths were recorded in April 2020 (46) and January 2021 (55).
- The in-month death rate for all causes in April 2020 was higher than the 5-year April average (2015-19). Other months were similar to the 5-year average.
Notes:
1. See Glossary: Patient cohorts.
2. Patients seen at adult PH centres aged 18 or over at latest PH diagnosis.
All-cause and COVID-19-related mortality
In-month mortality Jan 2020-Oct 2022
Chart C 1: In-month deaths, Adults with PH, England and Wales, Jan 2020-Oct 2022
Notes:
1. Suppression is applied where in-month COVID-19-related deaths are 1 or 2. In these cases, the dark blue bar contains the combined deaths from any cause, with the total number shown at the top of the bar.
2. The chart shows the crude number of deaths. Figures have not been adjusted to account for month length.
3. 35 of 3,286 deaths from any cause were sourced from the NAPH only. Cause of death was not available for these patients. Therefore the number of COVID-19-related deaths and the number of deaths from other causes may not add up to the number of deaths from any cause which is shown at the top of the bar.
All-cause mortality
In-month death rate 2015-19 vs 2020-22
Chart C 2: In-month death rate per 1,000 patients, Adults with PH, England and Wales, Jan-Dec 2015-19 vs Jan 2020-Oct 2022
- The in-year death rate for 2019 – the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic – was similar to 2020 (115 vs 116 per 1,000).
Notes:
1. In-month death rates have been adjusted to account for month length.
2. In-month deaths are included where the patient’s first date of main PH diagnosis is before the start of the month.
3. For a definition of confidence intervals see Glossary: Acronyms and definitions.
Last edited: 19 January 2023 9:31 am