ABSTRACT
Background/objective: Several hematological and inflammatory parameters so far have been associated with COVID-19 disease severity;however, such evidence for particularly vulnerable elderly patients is lacking. This study aimed to investigate potential and practical biomarkers that could assist in predicting mortality at the presentation in a group of elderly and non-elderly patients. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 1820 COVID-19 patients hospitalized for treatment. Clinical and mortality data as well as certain hematological and inflammatory parameters were retrieved from records. For analysis, patients were divided into two groups as geriatric (age ≥65 years) and non-geriatric subjects. The associated factors of the parameters on mortality were examined separately for elderly and younger patients. Results: Following multivariate analysis, high neutrophil count and high troponin T levels emerged as significant independent predictors of mortality in both geriatric patients and younger patients. Low and high monocyte count was associated with increased mortality risk for geriatric and younger patients, respectively. In the geriatric population, high ferritin levels and high RBC count was associated with increased risk, but increased eosinophil count was associated with decreased risk. Low lymphocyte count emerged as a predictor of mortality among younger patients. Conclusion: Several hematological and inflammatory parameters and indices may assist in predicting the mortality risk in patients with COVID-19;however, there appears to be some differences in terms of these predictors of mortality between elderly and younger patients. Larger prospective studies are warranted to support these findings. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Signa Vitae is the property of Pharmamed Mado Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)