Risk factors linked to mortality in nursing home residents with COVID-19

Editor’s Note

In this study of nursing home residents with COVID-19, increased age, male gender, and impaired cognitive and physical function were independent risk factors for all-cause 30-day mortality.

Of 5,256 nursing home residents with COVID-19 in 351 US nursing homes:

• Odds of death were 1.46 times higher for residents aged 80 to 84 years, 1.59 times higher for those aged 85 to 89 years, and 2.14 times higher for residents aged 90 years or older, compared with those aged 75 to 79 years.
• Women had lower risk for mortality than men, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.69.
• Two comorbidities were tied to mortality—diabetes (OR, 1.12) and chronic kidney disease (OR, 1.33).
• Odds of death were 2.09 times higher for residents with moderate cognitive impairment and 2.79 times higher for those with severe cognitive impairment, compared with cognitively intact residents.
• Odds of death were 1.49 times higher for residents with moderate impairment in physical function, and 1.64 times higher for those with severe physical impairment, compared with residents with no or limited impairment in physical function.

Understanding these risk factors can help with the development of clinical prediction models of mortality in this population, the researchers say.