Large Study of COVID-19 NYC Hospital Cases Shows High Mortality

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APRIL 24, 2020 — A study of 5700 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 in New York revealed a 21% mortality rate among the 2634 patients whose outcomes were known at study end, according to a report published April 22 in JAMA.

The study, which represents the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the United States thus far, confirmed that the highest-risk groups are older, male, and those with preexisting hypertension, diabetes, or obesity.

Mortality rates are difficult to compare between studies, emphasizes corresponding author Karina W. Davidson, PhD, MASc. Healthcare systems and resources can affect outcomes as well as patient demographics and the prevalence of comorbidities. In addition, “the speed with which people present with symptoms and where they are in the course of disease” differ between patient series, said Davidson, professor and senior vice president at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and senior vice president of research, Northwell Health, Manhasset, New York.

“But given all of those, we know that our study represents a fairly large sample of consecutive patients. This is what the mortality rate looks like among those requiring hospitalization at the early stage of the pandemic,” Davidson said.

The large patient sample reflects the diversity of the city and its environs. “It’s a large representative sample of very diverse patients ranging in age from zero (under a year) to 107, from all walks of life and socioeconomic levels,” Davidson continued. Eight of the 12 participating NYC-area hospitals are on Long Island, one each in Manhattan and Staten Island, and two in Queens.

For the study, first author Safiya Richardson, MD, MPH, and colleagues in the Northwell COVID-19 Research Consortium analyzed electronic medical records of 5700 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and April 4, 2020.

Overall, 1151 (20.2%) of the 5700 patients required mechanical ventilation. As of April 4, 831 (72.2%) of these patients remained in the hospital, 38 (3.3%) were discharged, and 282 (24.5%) had died.

When the authors restricted their analysis to the 2634 patients whose outcomes (discharge or death) were known at the end of the study, 373 (14.2%) had been treated in the intensive care unit, 320 (12.2%) received invasive mechanical ventilation, 81 (3.2%) received dialysis, and 553 (21%) died.