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. 2022 Jun 30;22:546. doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-03191-4

Table 4.

Differences in treatment, complications, and outcomes in Patients ≥ 80 Years Hospitalized with COVID-19 During the First and Successive Waves

Total
N (%)
( n  = 5953)
First wave
N (%)
( n  = 4545)
Successive waves
N (%)
( n  = 1408)
p value
Immunomodulatory therapy
 Systemic corticosteroids 2902 (49.0) 1770 (39.2) 1135 (80.6)  < 0.001
 Tocilizumab 228(3.8) 151 (3.3) 77 (5.5)  < 0.001
 Colchicine 68 (1.2) 64 (1.4) 4 (0.3)  < 0.001
 Anakinra 31 (0.5) 21 (0.5) 10 (0.7) 0.270
 Baricitinib 26 (0.5) 21 (0.6) 5 (048) 0.360
Antivirals
 Hydroxychloroquine 3467 (58.5) 3463 (76.5) 4 (0.3)  < 0.001
 Lopinavir/ritonavir 1893 (31.9) 1885 (41.7) 8 (0.6)  < 0.001
 Interferon 302 (5.1) 302 (6.7) 0 (0.0)  < 0.001
 Remdesivir 165 (2.8) 7 (0.2) 158 (11.2)  < 0.001
 Chloroquine 160 (2.7) 160 (3.5) 0 (0.0)  < 0.001
 Immunoglobulin 10 (0.2) 10 (0.2) 0 (0.0) 0.131
Antibiotics
 Beta-lactams 4300 (72.6) 3307 (73.2) 993 (70.7) 0.064
 Quinolones 942 (16.0) 689 (15.3) 253 (18.0) 0.017
 Macrolides 3060 (51.7) 2522 (55.9) 538 (33.3)  < 0.001
Ventilatory therapy
 High-flow nasal cannula oxygen 398(6.7) 312 (6.9) 86 (6.1) 0.288
 Non-invasive mechanical ventilation 249 (4.2) 185 (4.1) 64 (4.6) 0.460
 Invasive mechanic ventilation 70 (1.2) 55 (1.2) 15 (1.1) 0.642
Anticoagulant therapy
 Oral anticoagulants a 428 (7.2) 323 (7.2) 105 (7.5) 0.681
 Low-molecular-weight heparin 425 (83.5) 3678 (81.5) 1247 (88.8)  < 0.001
Complications
 ARDS, severe 1932 (32.6) 1613 (35.7) 319 (22.7)  < 0.001
 Acute kidney failure 1370 (23.1) 1059 (23.4) 311 (22.1) 0.324
 Acute heart failure 794 (13.4) 560 (12.4) 234 (16.6)  < 0.001
 Pneumonia 795 (13.4) 649 (14.3) 146 (10.4)  < 0.001
 Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome 529 (8.9) 440 (9.7) 89 (6.3)  < 0.001
 Sepsis 450 (7.6) 366 (8.1) 84 (6.0) 0.009
 Arrhythmia 382 (6.4) 283 (6.3) 99 (7.0) 0.297
 Shock 229 (3.9) 186 (4.1) 43 (3.1) 0.073
 Venous thromboembolism 110 (1.9) 79 (1.7) 43 (3.1) 0.172
 Acute coronary syndrome 84 (1.4) 63 (1.4) 21 (1.2) 0.270
 Stroke 54 (0.9) 43 (0.9) 11 (0.8) 0.562
 Myocarditis 52 (0.9) 37 (0.8) 15 (1.1) 0.381
 Intravascular coagulation 61 (1.0) 52 (1.1) 9 (0.6) 0.098
 Epileptic seizures 44 (0.7) 35 (0.8) 9 (0.6) 0.614
 Acute peripheral ischemic 36 (0.6) 30 (0.7) 6 (0.4) 0.315
Outcomes
 Intensive care unit admission 111 (1.9) 81 (1.8) 30 (1.1) 0.400
 Readmission 341 (5.9) 227 (5.2) 114 (8.1)  < 0.001
 Death 2697 (41.8) 2004 (44.1) 693 (36.4)  < 0.001
Days of hospitalization, median (IQR) 14 (10–21) 14 (9–21) 14 (10–21) 0.734

N (%) Number of cases (percentage), ARDS Acute respiratory distress syndrome, IQR Interquartile range:

aAnticoagulant therapy (dicumarin or direct anticoagulant)

Statistically significant differences are indicated in bold