TY - JOUR
AU - Ho, Frederick K.
AU - Petermann-Rocha, Fanny
AU - Gray, Stuart R.
AU - Jani, Bhautesh D.
AU - Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal
AU - Niedzwiedz, Claire L.
AU - Foster, Hamish M.E.
AU - Hastie, Claire E.
AU - Mackay, Daniel F.
AU - Gill, Jason M.R.
AU - O'Donnell, Catherine A.
AU - Welsh, Paul
AU - Mair, Frances S.
AU - Sattar, Naveed
AU - Celis-Morales, Carlos A.
AU - Pell, Jill P.
PY - 2020
DA - November
TI - Is older age associated with COVID-19 mortality in the absence of other risk factors? General population cohort study of 470,034 participants
JO - Plos One
VL - 15
IS - 11
DO - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241824
AB - Introduction: Older people have been reported to be at higher risk of COVID-19 mortality. This study explored the factors mediating this association and whether older age was associated with increased mortality risk in the absence of other risk factors. Methods: In UK Biobank, a population cohort study, baseline data were linked to COVID-19 deaths. Poisson regression was used to study the association between current age and COVID-19 mortality. Results: Among eligible participants, 438 (0.09%) died of COVID-19. Current age was associated exponentially with COVID-19 mortality. Overall, participants aged ≥75 years were at 13-fold (95% CI 9.13–17.85) mortality risk compared with those &lt;65 years. Low forced expiratory volume in 1 second, high systolic blood pressure, low handgrip strength, and multiple long-term conditions were significant mediators, and collectively explained 39.3% of their excess risk. The associations between these risk factors and COVID-19 mortality were stronger among older participants. Participants aged ≥75 without additional risk factors were at 4-fold risk (95% CI 1.57–9.96, P = 0.004) compared with all participants aged &lt;65 years. Conclusions: Higher COVID-19 mortality among older adults was partially explained by other risk factors. ‘Healthy’ older adults were at much lower risk. Nonetheless, older age was an independent risk factor for COVID-19 mortality.
PB - Public Library of Science
UR - http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/226017/
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER