Age-standardized mortality rate and predictors of mortality among COVID-19 patients in Iran

Rahmatollah Moradzadeh; Seyed Mohammad Jamalian; Javad Nazari; Alireza Kamali; Bahman Sadeghi; Zahra Hosseinkhani; Masoomeh Sofian; Maryam Zamanian

doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_946_20

Age-standardized mortality rate and predictors of mortality among COVID-19 patients in Iran

J Educ Health Promot. 2021 May 31;10(1):169. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_946_20. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Rahmatollah Moradzadeh¹, Seyed Mohammad Jamalian², Javad Nazari³, Alireza Kamali⁴, Bahman Sadeghi⁵, Zahra Hosseinkhani⁶, Masoomeh Sofian⁷, Maryam Zamanian¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
² Department of Forensic Medicine and Poisoning, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
³ Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
⁵ Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
⁶ Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
⁷ Infectious Disease Research Center, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.

Abstract

Background: To have a thorough understanding of epidemic surveillance, it is essential to broaden our knowledge of death tolls worldwide. This study aimed to determine the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and predictors of mortality among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional design, all COVID-19 patients with a positive polymerase chain reaction test in the population covered by Arak University of Medical Sciences (AUMS) were entered to the study. Data collection was conducted by phone interview. The study variables comprised age, sex, coronary heart diseases, diabetes, and some symptoms at admission. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained by logistic regression. The direct method was applied to calculate ASMR (per 100,000) of COVID-19. The analysis was applied by STATA software 12.0.

Results: A total of 208 cases of COVID-19 (out of 3050 total infected cases) were dead and 2500 cases were recovered. The mean age of dead patients was 70 years. The COVID-19 fatality rate in the population equaled 6.8%; in those patients who were 70 years old or more, however, the case fatality rate was 16.4%. The ASMR of COVID-19 was 12.9 (CI 95%: 11.2, 14.8). The odds of COVID-19-related death in the age over 60 were 10.87 (CI 95%: 6.30, 18.75) times than lower 45 years old. Moreover, it was observed that COVID-19 significantly increased the odds of COVID-19-related death in diabetes patients (OR = 1.45, CI 95%: 1.02, 2.06, P = 0.036).

Conclusion: The ASMR of COVID-19 was relatively higher in males than females. In general, the COVID-19 fatality rate was relatively high. We found that older age and diabetes can have impact on the death of COVID-19, but the headache was found to have a negative association with the COVID-19-related death.

Keywords: Age-standardized; COVID-19; Iran; epidemiology; mortality.