SynthesisJournal of the American Medical Directors Association2020
The Effect of Age on Mortality in Patients With COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis With 611,583 Subjects.
Synthesis in Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 361 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
361 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- COVID-19 outcomes among patients with sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait compared to the general population: a systematic review and meta-analyses.Annals of hematology · 2024Pooled it
- Exploring COVID-19 Pandemic Disparities with Transcriptomic Meta-analysis from the Perspective of Personalized Medicine.Journal of microbiology (Seoul, Korea) · 2024Pooled it
- Clinical expressions, characteristics and treatments of confirmed COVID-19 in nursing home residents: a systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccination in older adults.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Pooled it
- Attitudes of COVID-19 vaccination among college students: A systematic review and meta-analysis of willingness, associated determinants, and reasons for hesitancy.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2022Pooled it
- A randomised trial of anti-GM-CSF otilimab in severe COVID-19 pneumonia (OSCAR).The European respiratory journal · 2023Trial
- Characteristics and outcomes of adult patients hospitalised with RSV infection, influenza or COVID-19 in Belgium, winter seasons 2023/24 and 2024/25.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2026Article
- PDA (Privacy-Preserving Distributed Algorithms) in action: ten principles for high-quality multi-site clinical evidence generation.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2026Article
- Effectiveness, Safety, and Immunogenicity of a Second COVID-19 Vaccine Booster in the Elderly: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol.Health science reports · 2026Article
- The impact of COVID-19 on mortality among diabetic and hypertensive individuals in coastal communities in Bangladesh: evidence from chakaria health and demographic surveillance system.Population health metrics · 2026Article
- Optimizing COVID-19 vaccination for older adults: superior efficacy of heterologous regimens in reducing infection and mortality rates among patients aged 80 years and older during the Omicron BA.5/BF.7 outbreak.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Longitudinal humoral and memory B-cell responses to repeated SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in long-term care facilities residents.Immunity & ageing : I & A · 2026Article
- Short-term safety and reactogenicity of same-day COVID-19 and influenza vaccination in very old, community-dwelling adults.European geriatric medicine · 2026Observational
- Age and comorbidity in COVID-19 mortality: a retrospective cohort study using multivariable regression and interaction analyses.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Clinical effectiveness of intensive care unit admission in older adults with COVID-19 during the first pandemic wave in Spain.BMC geriatrics · 2026Observational
- Serum zinc level independently predicts need for inpatient intubation among patients hospitalized with COVID-19: A prospective observational study.Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2026Observational
- Spatio-temporal trends in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality due to elderly: a global perspective.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Excess life-years and productive life-years lost in Poland through the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic years.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Perceptions of care quality and human rights in Italian outpatient facilities during and after the pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Observational
301 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesInitial data on COVID-19 infection has pointed out a special vulnerability of older adults.
designWe performed a meta-analysis with available national reports on May 7, 2020 from China, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and New York State. Analyses were performed by a random effects model, and sensitivity analyses were performed for the identification of potential sources of heterogeneity. SETTING AND
participantsCOVID-19-positive patients reported in literature and national reports. MEASURES: All-cause mortality by age.
resultsA total of 611,1583 subjects were analyzed and 141,745 (23.2%) were aged ≥80 years. The percentage of octogenarians was different in the 5 registries, the lowest being in China (3.2%) and the highest in the United Kingdom and New York State. The overall mortality rate was 12.10% and it varied widely between countries, the lowest being in China (3.1%) and the highest in the United Kingdom (20.8%) and New York State (20.99%). Mortality was <1.1% in patients aged <50 years and it increased exponentially after that age in the 5 national registries. As expected, the highest mortality rate was observed in patients aged ≥80 years. All age groups had significantly higher mortality compared with the immediately younger age group. The largest increase in mortality risk was observed in patients aged 60 to 69 years compared with those aged 50 to 59 years (odds ratio 3.13, 95% confidence interval 2.61-3.76). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This meta-analysis with more than half million of COVID-19 patients from different countries highlights the determinant effect of age on mortality with the relevant thresholds on age >50 years and, especially, >60 years. Older adult patients should be prioritized in the implementation of preventive measures.
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