Clinical Characteristics and Risk Factors for Mortality in Critical COVID-19 Patients Aged 50 Years or Younger During Omicron Wave in Korea: Comparison With Patients Older Than 50 Years of Age
Hye Jin Shi, Jinyoung Yang, Joong Sik Eom, Jae-Hoon Ko, Kyong Ran Peck, Uh Jin Kim, Sook In Jung, Seulki Kim, Hyeri Seok, Miri Hyun, Hyun Ah Kim, Bomi Kim, Eun-Jeong Joo, Hae Suk Cheong, Cheon Hoo Jun, Yu Mi Wi, Jungok Kim, Sungmin Kym, MD Seungjin Lim, MD Yoonseon Park
Journal of Korean Medical Science, doi:10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e217
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused the death of thousands of patients worldwide. Although age is known to be a risk factor for morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients, critical illness or death is occurring even in the younger age group as the epidemic spreads. In early 2022, omicron became the dominant variant of the COVID-19 virus in South Korea, and the epidemic proceeded on a large scale. Accordingly, this study aimed to determine whether young adults (aged ≤ 50 years) with critical COVID-19 infection during the omicron period had different characteristics from older patients and to determine the risk factors for mortality in this specific age group. Methods: We evaluated 213 critical adult patients (high flow nasal cannula or higher respiratory support) hospitalized for polymerase chain reaction-confirmed COVID-19 in nine hospitals in South Korea between February 1, 2022 and April 30, 2022. Demographic characteristics, including body mass index (BMI) and vaccination status; underlying diseases; clinical features
Ethics statement The present study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Gil Medical Center (approval No. GCIRB2021-462). This study adhered to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Helsinki. The requirement for written informed consent was waived because de-identified data were collected retrospectively.
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS Supplementary Table 1 Clinicodemographic patient characteristics by variant period
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Supplementary Table 2 Clinicodemographic characteristics by variant period in patients aged ≤ 50 years Click here to view Supplementary Table 3 Predictors of mortality (univariate and multivariate analysis)
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Supplementary Table 4 Risk factors for mortality in patients aged >50 years (N = 142, univariate analysis)
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Supplementary Table 5 Clinical characteristics of patients aged ≤ 50 years who died Click here to view
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