Determinants of Hospitalization and Mortality in COVID-19 Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department

Aims: We aim to elucidate the clinical traits, comorbidities, and prognostic factors associated with intensive care unit (ICU) admission and in-hospital mortality in a group of COVID-19 patients admitted to a university hospital. Methods: This study was conducted in the XXX University Hospital. Retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to the Emergency Department between April 1, 2020, to October 30, 2020, and received the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 diagnostic code of COVID-19. We separated the patients into three groups: outpatients, patients admitted to COVID-19 wards, and patients admitted to ICUs. We performed multivariate regression analyses to identify the variables predicting hospital mortality. Results: Of the 194 patients included in the study, 54.6% were male, and the median age was 49 (interquartile range, 37–63). The study admitted 128 (66%) patients to wards, 37 (19.1%) to ICUs, and 29 (14.9%) as outpatients. The most frequent comorbidities were hypertension (25.3%), diabetes mellitus (19.1%), and malignancy (11.9%). Compared with the non-ICU group, ICU patients had older ages (p < 0.001) and had more comorbidities. In the multivariate analysis, age (odds ratio OR, 1.13; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.00–1.29), ferritin (OR, 1.004; 95% CI: 1.000–1.008), and red cell distribution width (RDW) (OR, 2.08; 95% CI: 1.18–3.68) on admission were significant factors predicting mortality in the hospital. Conclusions: In-hospital mortality rate was 16.5% among all patients. The older age, increased ferritin, and RDW are the most important factors associated with a higher risk of death during hospital stays for COVID-19.