Comorbidities predict 30-day hospital mortality of older adults with COVID-19

Henrique Pott Junior; Marcia Regina Cominetti

doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2021.06.011

Comorbidities predict 30-day hospital mortality of older adults with COVID-19

Geriatr Nurs. 2021 Sep-Oct;42(5):1024-1028. doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2021.06.011. Epub 2021 Jun 19.

Authors

Henrique Pott Junior¹, Marcia Regina Cominetti²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, Brazil. Electronic address: henriquepott@ufscar.br.
² Department of Gerontology, Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, Brazil. Electronic address: mcominetti@ufscar.br.

Abstract

We evaluated whether comorbidities predict disease severity and mortality in a cohort of 147 older adults with COVID-19. Patients were divided into three groups according to the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score. Groups 2 (CCI 4 - 5) and 3 (CCI ≥ 6) had higher 30-day mortality rate as compared to group 1 (CCI ≤ 3). Cox regression showed that even after adding sex, National Early Warning Score (NEWS) 2 score and the need for intensive care unit admission to the model, no significant changes were found in the mortality risk predicted by the CCI score, showing that chronic pathologies are key determinants of short-term survival in COVID-19. This work is important for the geriatric nursing field as it demonstrates that alternative approaches for clinical decision-making that consider the comorbidities, rather than only chronological age, can be especially significant for the management of COVID-19 patients' hospitalization.

Keywords: Aged; COVID-19; Comorbidity; Older adults; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19*
Comorbidity
Hospital Mortality
Hospitalization
Humans
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
SARS-CoV-2