Abstract
BACKGROUND: The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 varies from no or mild symptoms to pneumonia with fatal complications. The aim of the study was to find predictors of mortality and admission in the intensive care unit (ICU) in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. METHODS: Retrospective study of a cohort of patients admitted for COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2021. Demographic, clinical, radiological and laboratory variables were described at admission. Independent predictors of mortality and ICU admission were identified by means of backward stepwise logistic regression and described in terms of odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI). RESULTS: A total of 883 patients were included, 51.8% men with a mean age of 68; 1.8% readmissions. 17.6% of patients died (n=154). The independent predictors of mortality were age (OR=1.071; 95%CI: 1.046-1.095), percentage of oxygen saturation (SatO2) (OR=0.938; 95%CI: 0.903-0.974), diastolic blood pressure (DBP, OR= 0.972; 95%CI: 0.955-0.989), creatinine (OR=1.516; 95%CI: 1.088-2.113), INR (OR=1.199; 95%CI: 1.012-1.419) and sodium (OR=1.082; 95%CI: 1.037-1.128). Eight percent of patients were admitted to ICU; the independent predictors were: male sex (OR=2.079; 95%CI: 1.099-3.935), age (OR=0.960; 95%CI: 0.942-0.979), SatO2 (OR=0.925; 95%CI: 0.889-0.962), creatinine (OR=1.551; 95%CI: 1.118-2.152) and C-reactive protein (CRP, OR=1.003; 95%CI: 1.000-1.007). CONCLUSION: The identification of independent predictors of mortality (age, SatO2, DBP, creatinine, INR, sodium) and ICU admission (sex, age, SatO2, creatinine, and CRP) allowed for the stratification of patients to adapt clinical care protocols to these findings, thereby improving medical decisions.