Clinical and Lab Findings in Predicting COVID-19 Outcomes in Older Adults

Abstract Introduction: The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) seriously threatens people's lives worldwide. A practical solution to curb the pandemic is to facilitate the recognition of poor prognostic factors at earlier stages, especially in vulnerable groups such as elderly individuals, to help clinicians make timely decisions on treatment initiation. Methods This retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on 534 COVID-19 patients aged 60 years and above. Initially, demographic characteristics, severity, clinical symptoms, vital signs, and underlying diseases were analyzed in survivors and non-survivors; finally, the association between these variables and mortality rate was reported. Results The average age of the population was 72.5 ± 8.77 years, while the average age of survivors and non-survivors was 71.57 ± 8.61 years and 75.51 ± 8.64 years. Overall mortality was 23.2%, which increased to 87% in patients admitted to ICU. Mortality was 53%, with troponin ≥ 100, 41% with RDW > 16 and 44% with MCV > 96.1. It was 64% in patients with autoimmune diseases and 51% in cases with CKD. Patients with diastolic or systolic hypotension showed mortality of 52% and 50%. Conclusions ICU admission was the strongest predictive indicator for poor outcomes. Indeed, underlying diseases, increased troponin, RDW, MCV, and diastolic and systolic hypotension were associated with increased mortality. MeSH terms: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Age, Mortality, Prognosis