• Stelios Kokkoris, Aikaterini Gkoufa, Eleni Maneta, Georgios Doumas, Eleftheria Mizi, Vassiliki E Georgakopoulou, Ioanna Sigala, Efthymia Dima, Ioannis Papachatzakis, Theodora K Ntaidou, Vassiliki Markaki, Michail Tsimaras, Panagiotis Kremmydas, Michail Samarkos, Ilias I Siempos, Ioannis Vasileiadis, Anastasia Kotanidou, Spyros Zakynthinos, Athanase Benetos, and Christina Routsi.
• First Department of Intensive Care, School of Medicine, Evangelismos Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
• Minerva Anestesiol. 2022 Oct 1; 88 (10): 803-814.

BackgroundAlthough older adults are at high risk for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission, age is often used as a selection criterion in case of ICU beds scarcity. We sought to compare the proportion, clinical features and mortality between patients ≥70 years old and younger ICU patients with COVID-19.MethodsAll patients, consecutively admitted to our COVID ICU, where age was not used as an admission criterion, from March 2020 through April 2021, were included. Demographics, clinical and laboratory characteristics were recorded. Illness severity and Charlson comorbidity Index (CCI) were calculated. Patients≥70 years old were compared to youngers.ResultsOf 458 patients (68 [59-76] years, 70% males), 206 (45%) were ≥70 years old. Compared to younger, older patients had higher illness severity scores (APACHE II 18 [14-23] versus 12 [9-16], P<0.001, SOFA 8 [6-10] versus 6 [2-8], P<0.001, CCI 5 [4-6] versus 2 [1-3], P<0.001), increased need for mechanical ventilation (92% vs. 72%, P<0.001) and ICU mortality (74% versus. 29%, P<0.001). Age (HR: 1.045, CI: 1.02-1.07, P=0.001), CCI (HR: 1.135, CI: 1.037-1.243, P=0.006) and APACHE II (HR: 1.070, CI: 1.013-1.130, P=0.015) were independently associated with mortality. Among comorbidities, obesity, chronic pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease were independent risk factors for death.ConclusionsWhen age is not used as criterion for admission to COVID ICU, patients ≥70 years old represent a considerable proportion and, compared to younger ones, they have higher mortality. Age, severity of illness and CCI, and certain comorbidities are independent risk factors for mortality.

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