Mortality by COVID-19 Before Vaccination - One Year Experience of Hospitalized Patients in Madrid

•A year after the start of the pandemic, mortality rates have remained unchanged.•Considering the 3 waves, the profile of non-survivors has not changed significantly.•Advanced age and multiple pathologies are uniform characteristics of non-survivors. The aim of the study was to analyze the mortality and characteristics of deceased patients with COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic. All admissions owing to COVID-19 at a tertiary hospital in Madrid were analyzed. Three waves were considered: March 2020 to June 2020, July 2020 to November 2020, and December 2020 to April 2021. A total of 3,676 patients were identified. Among inpatients, no differences regarding age, sex, length of admission, or mortality were found between the 3 waves (p >0.05). The overall mortality rate was 12.9%. Among deceased patients, the median age was 82 years and the median Charlson Comorbidity Index was 6. Considering the main predictors for mortality by COVID-19 (age, sex, and concomitant comorbidities), only patients with previous lung disease were more prevalent in the third period (p