Risk Factors of COVID-19 Mortality in Elderly Patients

Background/Purpose: Older age is thought to have an impact on both the risk of COVID-19 mortality and the severity of the illness. Lower immunity levels and/or age-related chronic medical disorders could be a feasible explanation for this. Unfortunately, there is currently little information available about the clinical traits of older COVID-19 patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with COVID-19 mortality in elderly. Methods: We included 312 COVID-19 confirmed patients aged 60 years or older who were admitted to the Internal Medicine Ward between July 2021 and December 2022. This was a single-center study and a case control in design, which died participants were classified as case group and survived participants were classified as control group. Patients against medical advice, aged <60 years, and repeated COVID-19 infections were not included. Results: 149 (47.8%) patients survived and 163 (52.2%) patients died. The majority of individuals (86.2%) had moderate to severe COVID-19 infection, and 95.2% had pneumonia. Variables significantly associated with mortality in bivariate analyses were age (p = 0.046), incidence of pneumonia (p < 0.001), severity of COVID-19 infection (p < 0.001), stages of CKD (p = 0.003), hypertension classification (p = 0.001), diabetes classification (p < 0.001), number of comorbidities (p < 0.001), and number of vaccines (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Age > 80 years old, male, diabetes mellitus, stage 2 and 3 of hypertension, and obesity class 2 increased the risk of COVID-19 mortality, while number of COVID-19 vaccinations reducing the COVID-19 death.