Abstract: Open Medicine 2022; 17: 1833–1839 Research Article Ling Yang*#, Guoxi Chen#, Yuyang Cai#, Ye An#, Xiaopan Li#, Ying Chen, Cheng Xu, Chen Ji, Xing Lan, Yaling Wang, Hai Huang*, Li Han* The relationship between oxygen therapy, drug therapy, and COVID-19 mortality https://doi.org/10.1515/med-2022-0569 received March 17, 2022; accepted August 24, 2022 Abstract: Since December, 2019, Wuhan, China, has experienced an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We conducted a retrospective study of COVID-19 inpatients in Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital (Wuhan, China) from January 1 to February 29, 2020. The subjects were divided into four groups due to different treatment regimes. We used the Kaplan–Meier method to determine the cumulative rates of in-hospital death and the Cox proportional hazard model to calculate the risk factors and corresponding hazard ratios. A total of 185 patients were included in this study. The median age of the patients was 62 years, including 94 men and 91 women. Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated that mortality was higher in older patients, higher in men, and lower in the low-flow oxygen therapy group. Body mass  # Ling Yang, Guoxi Chen, Yuyang Cai, Ye An, Xiaopan Li contributed equally to this work.  * Corresponding author: Ling Yang, Department of Geriatrics, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, Shanghai, China, e-mail: 2205603@tongji.edu.cn * Corresponding author: Hai Huang, Tuberculosis department, Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital, Wuhan, China, e-mail: 1220775601@qq.com * Corresponding author: Li Han, Department of Geriatrics, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai, China, e-mail: 29553185@qq.com Guoxi Chen, Xing Lan, Yaling Wang: Tuberculosis department, Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital, Wuhan, China Yuyang Cai: School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China Ye An, Ying Chen, Cheng Xu: Department of Geriatrics, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai, China Xiaopan Li: Pudong Institute of Preventive Medicine, Fudan University, Shanghai, China Chen Ji: Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, Warwick Medical School, Warwick, Great Britain Open Access. © 2022 the author(s), published by De Gruyter. License. index (BMI) had no influence on mortality, as well as high flow oxygen therapy, Lopinavir–ritonavir (LPV/r) therapy, and the interferon-alpha add LPV/r therapy. Cox proportional hazard regression confirmed that the low flow oxygen therapy was independent protective factor for in-hospital death after adjusting for age, gender, and BMI. In conclusion, the mortality was higher in older patients, higher in men, and lower in the low-flow oxygen therapy group. BMI had no influence on mortality, as well as high flow oxygen therapy, LPV/r therapy, and interferon-alpha add LPV/r therapy. Keywords: drugs treatment, COVID-19, pneumonia, mortality