OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolic events (VTE). Recent studies have characterized racial disparities in the incidence of VTE. The aim of our study was to present a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between race and VTE in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature review to evaluate the number of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) events reported by racial groups in COVID-19 hospitalized patients. For qualitative analysis, independent reviewers extracted data from eligible studies, and we utilized the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess the quality of design and content for accurate interpretation. For the quantitative analysis, we pooled the ORs with Der Simonian and Laird random effects models. RESULTS: The qualitative analysis included 11 studies, and the meta-analysis had six of them. All studies were observational, retrospective cohort studies, except for one retrospective case-control study. Six studies were eligible for the meta-analysis due to high interstudy heterogeneity; thus, variable reports of racial groups reduced the cohort to Black/African American and White patients (n = 9723) in the analysis. The estimated proportion for DVT/PE for Black/African American and Whites was 0.07 (95% CI [0.00, 0.10]) and 0.04 (95% CI [0.00, 0.07]), respectively. The p value of 0.13 suggest non-significant difference in VTE rates between Black/African American and White patients. CONCLUSION: In our study, the proportion of DVT/PE events between Black/African American and White COVID-19 patients were comparable. Future COVID-19 studies should include systematic racial group reporting to identify disparities in the setting of thromboembolic events.
- Adults
- Older adults
- Risk factor
- COVID-19
