Mortality Among US Patients Hospitalized With SARS-CoV-2 Infection in 2020

Mortality is an important measure of the severity of a pandemic. This study aimed to understand how mortality by age of hospitalized patients who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 has changed over time. To evaluate trends in in-hospital mortality among patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. This retrospective cohort study included patients who were hospitalized for at least 1 day at 1 of 209 US acute care hospitals of variable size, in urban and rural areas, between March 1 and November 21, 2020. Eligible patients had a SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or antigen test within 7 days of admission or during hospitalization, and a record of discharge or in-hospital death. SARS-CoV-2 positivity. SARS-CoV-2 infection was defined as a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR or antigen test within 7 days before admission or during hospitalization. Mortality was extracted from electronically available data. Among 503 409 admitted patients, 42 604 (8.5%) had SARS-CoV-2-positive tests. Of those with SARS-CoV-2-positive tests, 21 592 (50.7%) were male patients. Hospital admissions among patients with SARS-CoV-2-positive tests were highest in the group aged 65 years or older (19 929 [46.8%]), followed by those aged 50 to 64 years (11 602 [27.2%]) and 18 to 49 years (10 619 [24.9%]). Hospital admissions among patients 18 to 49 years of age increased from 1099 of 5319 (20.7%) in April to 1266 of 4184 (30.3%) in June and 2156 of 7280 (29.6%) in July, briefly exceeding those in the group 50 to 64 years of age (June: 1194 of 4184 [28.5%]; 2039 of 7280 [28.0%]). Patients with SARS-CoV-2-positive tests had higher in-hospital mortality than patients with SARS-CoV-2-negative tests (4705 [11.0%] vs 11 707 of 460 805 [2.5%]; P