Mortality in older patients admitted to an ICU for COVID-19: A systematic review.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The objective was to conduct a systematic review of mortality and factors independently associated with mortality of older patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) for COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data sources were MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and references of included studies. Two reviewers independently selected studies evaluating mortality of older patients (≥ 70 years) admitted to an ICU for COVID-19. They extracted general characteristics, mortality rate, and factors independently associated with mortality. The methodological quality of each study was evaluated by using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. RESULTS: We selected 36 studies (11,989 patients). Many of the studies were conducted in Europe (42%) and many were retrospective (61%) and multicenter (61%). ICU mortality ranged from 8% to 90%, 1-month mortality from 33% to 90% and 3-month mortality, reported in five studies, from 46% to 60%. Frailty, assessed by the Clinical Frailty Score (CFS), was significantly associated with 1-month and 3-month mortality respectively in two studies (hazard ratio [HR] 3.2 [2.56-4.13] and HR 2.83 [95% CI 1.96-4.08]). CONCLUSION: In this systematic review of older patients admitted to an ICU with COVID-19, we documented high heterogeneity of mortality rates.