Treatment outcomes and healthcare resource utilization in critically ill COVID-19 patients in Korea: A nationwide multicenter cohort study

COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by many healthcare-related issues. Concrete national data regarding the care performance of critical ill cases of COVID-19 does not exist in Korea. The current study aimed to describe the treatment outcome and healthcare resource utilization of critically ill COVID-19 patients. Our multicenter retrospective cohort study enrolled critically ill COVID-19 patients from 22 tertiary care hospitals in Korea. Inclusion criteria: (1) patients aged 19 years or older, (2) patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who received at least one of following initial treatments such as high-flow oxygen therapy (HFOT) or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) or invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. During the study wave, a total of 1358 eligible participants were enrolled, with 21 institutions participating in the study. Among them, data from 1113 patients were available and analyzed. Of 921 (82.7%), 621 (55.8%) were supported by IMV. Of the 921 patients supported by HFOT or NIV, 438 (47.6%) recovered without IMV, 429 (46.6%) required IMV, and 54 died who DNR after NIV was applied. Prone position ventilation was administered to 163 (33.1%) patients with IMV and 25 (6.2%) patients with HFOT. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was administered to 128 (20.6%) patients treated with IMV. The overall mortality rate was 26.4%. In South Korea, mortality rates for patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia have been shown substantial fatality, with the highest mortality rates observed in wave 3. The increased mortality rate in wave 3 could be associated with the rapid escalation of critically ill COVID-19 patients and the consequent saturation of intensive care unit capacities. Patients received NIV therapy and prone position ventilation more frequently in wave 3 as the number of cases increased.