The Age-Related Risk of Severe Outcomes Due to COVID-19 Infection: A Rapid Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression

Karla Romero Starke, Gabriela Petereit-Haack, Melanie Schubert, Daniel Kämpf, Alexandra Schliebner, Janice Hegewald and Andreas Seidler
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Karla Romero Starke: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (IPAS), Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Gabriela Petereit-Haack: Division of Occupational Health, Department of Occupational Safety and Environment, Regional Government of South Hesse, 65197 Wiesbaden, Germany
Melanie Schubert: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (IPAS), Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Daniel Kämpf: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (IPAS), Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Alexandra Schliebner: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (IPAS), Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Janice Hegewald: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (IPAS), Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Andreas Seidler: Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine (IPAS), Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-24

Abstract: Increased age appears to be a strong risk factor for COVID-19 severe outcomes. However, studies do not sufficiently consider the age-dependency of other important factors influencing the course of disease. The aim of this review was to quantify the isolated effect of age on severe COVID-19 outcomes. We searched Pubmed to find relevant studies published in 2020. Two independent reviewers evaluated them using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. We extracted the results and assessed seven domains of bias for each study. After adjusting for important age-related risk factors, the isolated effect of age was estimated using meta-regression. Twelve studies met our inclusion criteria: four studies for COVID-19 disease severity, seven for mortality, and one for admission to ICU. The crude effect of age (5.2% and 13.4% higher risk of disease severity and death per age year, respectively) substantially decreased when adjusting for important age-dependent risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease/cerebrovascular disease, compromised immunity, previous respiratory disease, renal disease). Adjusting for all six comorbidities indicates a 2.7% risk increase for disease severity (two studies), and no additional risk of death per year of age (five studies). The indication of a rather weak influence of age on COVID-19 disease severity after adjustment for important age-dependent risk factors should be taken in consideration when implementing age-related preventative measures (e.g., age-dependent work restrictions).

Keywords: COVID-19; age; disease severity; mortality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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