Mortality Risk Factors Among Hospitalized Older Patients With COVID-19

authors:

avatar fariba abdollahi 1 , avatar Mostafa Keshavarz Rad 2 , avatar Miaad Mirzapour 2 , avatar Mahdi Rajabi Yekta 2 , avatar alireza Qaber 2 , avatar Morteza Nouri 2 , avatar Seyedeh Ameneh Motalebi 3 , *

Department of Medical Sciences, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran.
Student Research Committee, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
Journal of Inflammatory Diseases: Vol.25, issue 3; 145-152
article type: issue_documents_importer

how to cite: abdollahi F, Keshavarz Rad M, Mirzapour M, Rajabi Yekta M, Qaber A, et al. Mortality Risk Factors Among Hospitalized Older Patients With COVID-19. J Inflamm Dis. 2021;25(3):e156287. 

Abstract

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease with a high mortality rate among older people. Objective: The current study aims to investigate the death rate and related factors among hospitalized older patients with COVID-19 in Qazvin, Iran. Methods: In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, 430 older inpatients with COVID-19 (Mean±SD age: 72.83±8.81) admitted to two hospitals in Qazvin, Iran were randomly selected. Their information was extracted from their electronic health records. Independent t-test, chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used for the data analysis. Findings: Hypertension (n=234, 54.4%), diabetes mellitus (n=148, 34.4%), and cardiovascular diseases (n=127, 29.4%) were the most prevalent comorbidities. Dyspnea (n=300, 69.8%), cough (n=232, 54.0%), fever (n=186, 43.3%), and general malaise (n=168, 39.1%) were the most frequent clinical symptoms. There was in-hospital mortality in 108 (25.1%) older inpatients. Multivariate regression results showed that the risk of in-hospital death was significantly related to the inpatients’ age (OR=1.037, 95%CI=1.007-1.068), white blood cell count (OR=1.187, 95%CI=1.114-1.264), hemoglobin level (OR=0.812, 95%CI=0.720-0.914), platelet count (OR=0.993, 95%CI=0.989-0.996), and oxygen saturation level (OR=0.950, 95%CI=0.967-0.932) at the time of admission. Conclusion: Older age, white blood cell count, hemoglobin level, oxygen saturation level, and platelet count are predictors of death among older inpatients with COVID-19. Identification of these risk factors can assist the healthcare providers for timely intervention for the prevention of death.