Decreasing mortality rates in ICU during the COVID‐19 pandemic

We would like to thank the readers of Anaesthesia for their interest in our recent systematic review and meta‐analysis of intensive care unit (ICU) mortality in patients with COVID‐19, in which we found that reported mortality rates have fallen as the pandemic has progressed [1]. The process of post‐publication peer review has highlighted that we could have presented the changes in mortality rate over time more clearly.

Combined ICU mortality (95%CI) was 59.5% (39.8–76.5%) in studies published before the end of March 2020 and 41.6% (34.0–49.7%) for all included studies to the end of June 2020. Figure 1 was not included in the original published manuscript or supplementary material, but we include it here to provide a clear illustration of the reported mortality rate for completed intensive care admissions over the course of the pandemic.

Figure 1.

Forest plot of ICU COVID‐19 deaths per 100 completed intensive care admissions, grouped by month of publication (January to March, April, May), and combined. Values are proportions (95%CI).