Characteristics and Outcomes of US Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19.
Ithan D Peltan, Ellen Caldwell, Andrew J Admon and 22 others
PMID 34709373WHAT IT FOUND
Hospital mortality was 17.7% among 1480 US adults hospitalized with symptomatic COVID-19, and many survivors left with new respiratory support or health care services.
Key findings
01Hospital mortality was 17.7% among 1480 included adults.
02The adjusted odds of death were 30.7 times higher for patients 80 years and older than for patients younger than 40 years.
03Among 1218 survivors, 18.1% were prescribed at least 1 form of new respiratory support, and among 1153 survivors initially admitted from home, 22.5% were discharged with new home-based or facility-based health care services.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The cohort was from March 1 to April 1, 2020, early in the pandemic, so current treatments, organ support, and outcomes may differ. Most sites were academic referral hospitals, so severely ill patients may be overrepresented compared with a population-based hospital sample. Data came from manual review of clinical documentation, so findings could be affected by recall bias, underreporting in sicker patients, and incomplete documentation during strain. The study did not include deaths or readmissions after hospital discharge. The analysis did not directly evaluate how patient volumes and resource strain affected care or outcomes, though site-level adjustment was included. Because the analysis selected a small set of risk factors after testing many candidates, the reported uncertainty around those factors may be too narrow.
Declared interests
No author conflicts of interest are reported in the article text. The paper is listed as supported by NIH extramural research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the risk factors or mortality rate as proof that any treatment works. This was an observational cohort describing hospitalized patients and outcomes, not a randomized trial testing hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, anticoagulation, or other therapies.