Table 2

Pre-admission comorbidity in 1520 patients hospitalised with pandemic H1N1 infection during the 2009–2010 pandemic compared with national prevalence data

Underlying medical conditions
Children (<16 years), n=480 (31.6%), n (%)Adults, n=1040 (68.4%), n (%)All admissions, (n=1520), n (%)Background, prevalence in the general population,* %
No. of comorbidities
 0346 (72.1)492 (47.3)838 (55.1)
 1115 (23.9)394 (37.9)509 (33.5)
 2 or more19 (4.0)154 (14.8)173 (11.4)
Comorbidity
 Cardiovascular disease20 (4.2)168 (16.2)188 (12.4)3.5
 Pulmonary disease
  COPD0 (0.0)83 (8.0)83 (5.5)1.5
  Asthma71 (14.8)314 (30.2)385 (25.3)5.9
  Other pulmonary disease16 (3.3)20 (2.0)36 (2.4)
 Diabetes6 (1.3)96 (9.2)102 (6.7)4.1
 Other metabolic disease8 (1.7)4 (0.4)12 (0.8)
 Neurological disease36 (7.5)51 (5.0)87 (5.7)
 Cerebrovascular disease0 (0.0)5 (0.5)5 (0.5)1.7
 Obesity recorded on admission3 (0.6)46 (4.4)49 (3.2)8.1
 Pregnancy182 (20.3)§83 (20.8)§5.6
  • * National prevalence data on comorbidity were obtained from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) primary care data for 2009 (http://www.qof.ic.nhs.uk) and are based on all ages, except for pregnancy.

  • Recorded obesity and pregnancy are excluded from the number of comorbidities in the upper part of table 2.

  • National prevalence data on obesity based on QOF obesity registers, defined as body mass index ≥30.

  • § Percentage of pregnancies shown represents proportion in women aged 16–44.

  • 5.6% of women aged 15–44 estimated to be pregnant in source population: in addition to 761 934 live births in the UK in 2008 (Office of National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) we assumed that 4% of women aged 15–44 years experienced a miscarriage or abortion in the same time period (500 084). To calculate the prevalence of pregnancy we took 9/12 of annual live births (assuming 9-month duration of pregnancy) and 3/12 of miscarriages/abortions (assuming 3-month duration), divided by the total female population aged 15–44 years (12 502 100).