@article{Rasho_Aghali Merza_2023, title={The impact of blood group phenotypes on COVID-19 severity and mortality in Duhok province: a prospective cross-sectional study}, volume={9}, url={https://jocms.org/index.php/jcms/article/view/1333}, DOI={10.22317/jcms.v9i2.1333}, abstractNote={<p><strong>Objectives:</strong> This study aimed to determine the frequency of blood group types among COVID-19 patients and to investigate its potential association with disease severity and patient outcomes.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> this prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from February to July 2022 in three different healthcare facilities in the Duhok region. All confirmed PCR confirmed COVID-19 patients were classified into: mild, moderate, severe, and critical cases. Information on demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics were collected using a standardized questionnaire. All patients were subjected to ABO blood grouping. The statistical calculations were performed by JMP Pro 14.3.0. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> the study comprised of 404 patients. The age range of the patients varied from 16 to 100 years with a male predominance (204, 50.5%). Out of the total patients, 250 (61.88%) had mild-moderate course, while 154 (38.12%) had severe-critical course. The most frequent blood group was O (164, 41.58%), followed by blood group A (121, 29.95%). There was no significant difference in the distribution of the Rh factor among the studied subjects (p=0.426). There was a significant increase in disease severity and worse outcome with increasing age (p=<0.0001). Considering blood group types, there were no significant differences between blood group types with COVID-19 severity and patients’ outcome.  </p> <p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> individuals with blood group O may have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Advanced age is a crucial predictor of disease severity and poor outcomes. There were no significant association between blood group types with COVID-19 severity and patients’ outcome. However, further research is needed to confirm these findings and determine the underlying mechanisms behind any potential association between blood groups and COVID-19 susceptibility, severity, and outcome.</p>}, number={2}, journal={Journal of Contemporary Medical Sciences}, author={Rasho, Fatima Jaafar and Aghali Merza, Muayad}, year={2023}, month={Apr.} }