COVID-19 in critical care: epidemiology of the first epidemic wave across England, Wales and Northern Ireland

the ICNARC COVID-19 Team, Alvin Richards-Belle, Izabella Orzechowska, Doug W. Gould, Karen Thomas, James C. Doidge, Paul R. Mouncey, Michael D. Christian, Manu Shankar-Hari, David A. Harrison, Kathryn M. Rowan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: To describe critical care patients with COVID-19 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and compare them with a historic cohort of patients with other viral pneumonias (non-COVID-19) and with international cohorts of COVID-19. Methods: Extracted data on patient characteristics, acute illness severity, organ support and outcomes from the Case Mix Programme, the national clinical audit for adult critical care, for a prospective cohort of patients with COVID-19 (February to August 2020) are compared with a recent retrospective cohort of patients with other viral pneumonias (non-COVID-19) (2017–2019) and with other international cohorts of critical care patients with COVID-19, the latter identified from published reports. Results: 10,834 patients with COVID-19 (70.1% male, median age 60 years, 32.6% non-white ethnicity, 39.4% obese, 8.2% at least one serious comorbidity) were admitted across 289 critical care units. Of these, 36.9% had a PaO2/FiO2 ratio of ≤ 13.3 kPa (≤ 100 mmHg) consistent with severe ARDS and 72% received invasive ventilation. Acute hospital mortality was 42%, higher than for 5782 critical care patients with other viral pneumonias (non-COVID-19) (24.7%), and most COVID-19 deaths (88.7%) occurred before 30 days. Meaningful international comparisons were limited due to lack of standardised reporting. Conclusion: Critical care patients with COVID-19 were disproportionately non-white, from more deprived areas and more likely to be male and obese. Conventional severity scoring appeared not to adequately reflect their acute severity, with the distribution across PaO2/FiO2 ratio categories indicating acutely severe respiratory disease. Critical care patients with COVID-19 experience high mortality and place a great burden on critical care services.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2035-2047
Number of pages13
JournalIntensive Care Medicine
Volume46
Issue number11
Early online date9 Oct 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2020

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Coronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Critical care
  • Outcomes
  • Pandemic

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