NY study finds worrying death rate on COVID-19 patients on ventilators

The study looked at the electronic health records of 5,700 patients with coronavirus disease hospitalized at Northwell Health. /AFP

Nearly all COVID-19 patients who needed ventilators in New York's largest health system to help them breathe died, a study found.

The study found that 88 percent of the patients placed on the breathing aids at Northwell Health died, while overall about 20% passed on.

Dr. Safiya Richardson at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Northwell Health, and colleagues found that just 12% of the patients in the study needed ventilators.

The study looked at the electronic health records of 5,700 patients with coronavirus disease hospitalized at Northwell Health. Final outcomes were known for 2,634 of them.

The records support what doctors have been saying about the coronavirus: most people who become severely ill have some sort of so-called underlying condition. More than half, or 57%, had high blood pressure, 41% were obese and 34% had diabetes.

"Of the patients who died, those with diabetes were more likely to have received invasive mechanical ventilation or care in the ICU compared with those who did not have diabetes," the researchers wrote.

The study also confirmed that men were more likely to die than women, and no one under the age of 18 had died.

Source(s): CNN