A just-published study provides previously unknown answers about which hospitalized COVID-19 patients are most likely to need mechanical ventilation or to die.
Researchers showed that vital signs and lab results at the time of hospital admission are the most accurate predictors of severe COVID-19. “Our models show that chronic conditions, comorbidities, sex, race and ethnicity are much less important in the hospital setting for early prediction of critical illness,” said Dr. Sevda Molani, lead author of a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. Molani and team looked at risk factors based on two age groups of hospitalized patients, one being between 18 and 50 years old and the other being 50 or older, and found that risk factors that lead to severe cases and/or death differ with younger vs. older patients.
