Who Were Hospitalized Deceased Patients from COVID-19 During the First Year of Pandemic? Retrospective Analysis of 1104 Deceased Patients in South of France

Abstract

Introduction: Following the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a complete analysis of the characteristics of the deceased hospitalized patients was performed, to identify factors related to premature mortality and to compare patient profiles according to the epidemic periods. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 1104 deceased patients in two University Hospitals in South-eastern France, between March 1, 2020 and March 12, 2021 from Hospital’s electronic medical records was performed. Results: Mean age was 80 years (± 11.1) and 10% of the deceased were younger than 65 years with specific comorbidities, e.g., genetic conditions, metastatic cancer, or massive obesity. Among the three clusters identified, two clusters (75% of deceased patients) include very elderly patients with numerous comorbidities, and differ by their proportion of dependent institutionalized patients. The third cluster is made up of younger patients with fewer but severe comorbidities. Deceased patients’ profiles varied according to the epidemic periods: during the first period (March–June 2020), more patients were institutionalized. The second period (September–December2020) coincided with a higher mortality rate. Conclusions: This study confirmed that most patients hospitalized and dying from COVID-19 were frail, i.e., elderly and/or highly comorbid and that the small proportion of young patients had severe comorbidities.