Analysis of Prognostic Factors in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19
Klaudia Bartoszewicz, Mateusz Bartoszewicz, Wojciech Gradkowski, Samuel Stróż, Anna Stasiak-Barmuta, Sławomir Lech Czaban.
Abstract
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global health crisis. Mortality predictors in critically ill patients remain under investigation. A retrospective cohort study included 201 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) due to COVID-19. Data on demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, and mortality were collected. Logistic regression analysis was conducted with various independent variables, including demographic characteristics, clinical factors, and treatment methods. The study aimed to identify key risk factors associated with mortality in an ICU.
Introduction
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, emerged in late 2019 and rapidly evolved into a global pandemic, impacting healthcare systems and economies worldwide. While most infected patients experience mild to moderate symptoms, a substantial fraction develop severe disease, demanding ICU admission and leading to significant mortality rates. One of the most alarming aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been its impact on mortality, particularly among certain high-risk groups.
Materials and Methods:
We conducted a retrospective cohort study at a single medical centre, adhering to STROBE guidelines. From March 3, 2020, to July 1, 2021, 235 adult patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the University Clinical Hospital in Bialystok, Poland. Data were collected from the electronic medical records from September 1 to November 30, 2021. Other research results regarding this group of patients [14]. The research investigator retrieved all the patient’s data from the database in an Excel sheet and revised, cleaned, and coded the data.
Discussion
Our study investigated various clinical and demographic variables to assess their potential impact on ICU mortality in 201 patients, non-Survivors (n = 80, 40%) and Survivors (n = 121, 60%). Traditional demographic and clinical parameters such as BMI, sex, age, and prevalent comorbidities showed no significant differences between the groups. We observed that VAP has a significant influence on in-ICU mortality.
Citation: Bartoszewicz K, Bartoszewicz M, Gradkowski W, Stróż S, Stasiak-Barmuta A, Czaban SL (2024) Analysis of prognostic factors in critically ill patients with COVID-19. PLoS ONE 19(6): e0302248. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302248
Editor: Benjamin M. Liu, Children’s National Hospital, George Washington University, UNITED STATES
Received: November 10, 2023; Accepted: March 29, 2024; Published: June 27, 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Bartoszewicz et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: This study received partial funding from the Medical University of Bialystok. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
