The Risk of Infective Endocarditis among COVID-19 Patients with Non-Medical Opioid Use

Review Data

Q: Is the topic relevant to the journal area of interest? Is it contemporary and interesting for

researchers?

A: Very good

Abstract & Keywords

Q: Are all required components included in the abstract? Are the keywords appropriately chosen?

A: Excellent

Goal

Q: Is the goal explicitly stated in the Introduction? Is its formulation clear and unambiguous?

A: Good

Structure

Q: Is the paper's structure coherent? Is it in coherence with the goal of the paper?

A: Very good

Tools and Methods

Q: Are methods the author uses adequate and well used?

A: Good

Discussion & Conclusion

Q: Is it related to the results presented before? Do you consider them as coherent?

A: Very good

Comments:

The Discussion puts forth the rationale for taking up the study, effectively describes the relevant literature and enlists the implications of the findings from the present study in that context. The study is well supported with briefly explained tables. The findings of this study demonstrate significantly higher incidence risk of infective endocarditis among a large sample of COVID-19 patients with non-medical opioid use compared with patients without non-medical opioid use. The study is apt in recommending future studies to investigate the complex interplay between COVID-19, opioid use, and infective endocarditis (IE), especially the biological mechanism increasing the vulnerability of COVID-19 patients.

Literature

Q: Does the author utilize relevant literature?

A: Good

Author's knowledge

Q: What is the level of the author’s knowledge? Does the author utilize all recent contributions relevant to the topic?

A: Good

Length

Q: Is the length of the paper adequate to the significance of the topic? Do you suggest shortening the paper without losing its value?

A: Good

Figures & Tables

Q: Does the author use them suitably? Are legend and notations clear?

A: Very good

Writing style

Q: Is it clear and understandable?

A: Very good

Further comments on the paper

Comments: This study examines the difference in infective endocarditis (IE) incidence following COVID-19 diagnosis between individuals with and without non-medical opioid use. The study holds significance as this is the first study to examine the difference in infective endocarditis incidence following COVID-19 diagnosis between individuals with and without non-medical opioid use. As the disease is so novel, there is scarce literature on opioid use and COVID-19. Patients with opioid use disorder are more likely to get coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The limitations of this study include its restriction to patients who were tested for COVID-19 and whose data exist in the electronic medical record of the healthcare organizations within the network, the possibility of symptoms related to IE to have been incorrectly attributed to a diagnosis of COVID-19 and self-reporting of some comorbidities in the medical records.

Q: Would you recommend this manuscript for further publication?

A: Yes - Suitable to be published

If you have any questions and clarifications you can write to the journal.

Thanks,
Science Repository Team