Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 in Inpatients with Schizophrenia in Wuhan, China

Background: In contrast to many Western countries, China has maintained its large psychiatric hospitals. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in inpatients with schizophrenia (SCZ) are unclear.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of COVID-19 among inpatients with SCZ and compare the infected to uninfected SCZ patients in a Wuhan psychiatric hospital.

Methods: We retrospectively collected demographic characteristics and clinical profiles of all SCZ patients with COVID-19 at Wuhan's Youfu Hospital.

Results: Among the 504 SCZ patients, 84 had COVID-19, and we randomly sampled 174 who were uninfected as a comparison group. The overall prevalence of COVID-19 in SCZ patients was 16.7%. Among the 84 SCZ patients with confirmed COVID-19, the median age was 54 years and 76.2% were male. The most common symptom was fever (82%), and less common symptoms were cough (31%), poor appetite (20%), and fatigue (16%). Compared with SCZ patients without COVID-19, those with COVID-19 were older ( = 0.006) and significantly lighter ( = 0.002), and had more comorbid physical diseases ( = 0.001). Surprisingly, those infected were less likely to be smokers (< 0.001) or to be treated with clozapine ( = 0.03). Further logistic regression showed that smoking [odds ratio (OR) = 5.61], clozapine treated (OR = 2.95), and male (OR = 3.48) patients with relatively fewer comorbid physical diseases (OR = 0.098) were at a lower risk for COVID-19. SCZ patients with COVID-19 presented primarily with fever, but only one-third had a cough, which might otherwise be the most common mode of transmission between individuals.

Conclusion: Two unexpected protective factors for COVID-19 among SCZ inpatients are smoking and clozapine treatment.