According to research1 published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, ICU patients receiving mechanical ventilation had a 70.5% mortality rate compared to 11.6% of hospitalized patients not requiring intubation.

Researchers say, however, patients intubated within 24 hours of admission had better outcomes versus patients those receiving mechanical ventilation later in their hospitalization.

The study included a total of 11,721 patients aged ≥18 years hospitalized between 15 Feb and 20 April 2020 across 245 US hospitals.

According to analysis and results:

  • Mechanical ventilation was necessary for 1967 patients (16.8%)
  • Nearly two-thirds of patients requiring mechanical ventilation were male (63.9%), compared to 36.1% female
  • Overall mortality was 21.4% among all hospitalized patients
  • Mortality was 70.5% among those on mechanical ventilation
  • Mortality was 11.6% among those who did not need mechanical ventilation 
  • Among the 1901 patients with known outcomes who received mechanical ventilation, only 27.1% were discharged alive.

“In this study, death among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection was highly associated with mechanical ventilation during hospitalization,” researchers concluded.1

Read more at www.academic.oup.com


Reference

  1. Fried M, et al. Patient Characteristics and Outcomes of 11,721 Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Hospitalized Across the United States. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 28 August 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1268