Risk factors for COVID-19 and their association with mortality in Ecuadorian patients admitted to the ICU A retrospective cohort multicentric study

Several risk factors were associated with mortality in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection in intensive care units (ICU). We assessed the effect of risk factors related to the characteristics and clinical history of the population, laboratory test results, drug management, and type of ventilation on the probability of survival/discharge from the ICU. A retrospective cohort multicentric study of adults with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU between March 2020 and December 2021. Data were collected from 6 hospitals in 5 cities in Ecuador. The primary outcome was ICU survival/discharge. Survival analysis was conducted using semi-parametric Cox proportional hazards models. Of those admitted to the ICU with COVID-19, (n = 991), mean age was 56.76 ± 13.14, and 65.9% were male. Regarding the primary outcome, 51.1% (n = 506) died and 48.9% (n = 485) survived. Of the group that died, their mean age was higher than the survivors (60.7 vs 52.60 years, respectively), and they had a higher prevalence of comorbidities such as arterial hypertension (37.2% vs 20.4%, respectively) and diabetes mellitus (26.9% vs 15.7%, respectively), with P < .001. In ventilatory management, 32.7% of patients used noninvasive ventilation and high-flow nasal cannula, and 67.3% required invasive ventilatory support. After adjusting for confounders, Cox regression analysis showed that patients were less likely to be discharged alive from the ICU if they met the following conditions: arterial hypertension (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.83 95% CI 0.723–0.964), diabetes mellitus (HR = 0.80 95% CI 0.696–0.938), older than 62 years (HR = 0.86 95% CI 0.790–0.956), obese (body mass index ≥ 30) (HR = 0.78 95% CI 0.697–0.887), 1 unit increase in SOFA score (HR = 0.94 95% CI 0.937–0.961), PaO₂/FiO₂ ratio <100 mm Hg (HR = 0.84 95% CI 0.786–0.914), and the use of invasive mechanical ventilation (HR = 0.68 95% CI 0.614–0.769). Risk factors associated with increased mortality were older age, obesity, arterial hypertension, and diabetes. Factors such as male gender, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute kidney injury, and cancer reported in other investigations did not have the same effect on mortality in our study.