METHODS
Study design and population
This is a multicentre retrospective cohort study aimed (I) to evaluate the effect of different disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) on the accumulated incidence of COVID-19 symptoms during March 2020 in patients with IMIDs living in Barcelona (Spain); and (II) to explore the possibility of new treatments in early stages of COVID-19. Patients with suspected IMIDs (first visits or confirmed diagnostic in successive visits), who had been referred from 14 Primary Care Centres to the outpatient Rheumatology, Dermatology and Gastroenterology services of Hospital del Mar (referral hospital from Barcelona) from September 2019 to March 2020 were recruited. The exclusion criteria were <18 years old, previous death not related with SARS-CoV-2 infection and patients tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 or without follow up at the primary care centre during the studied period. The study was undertaken according to Good Clinical Practice guidelines and the Declaration of Helsinki. The research ethics review committee of Parc de Salut Mar approved the protocol (2020/9246).