About 20 percent of young adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 ended up in intensive care units, with 10 percent needing ventilation, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers used the Premier Healthcare Database to examine ICD-10 codes for patients aged 18-34 that were discharged between April 1 and June 30. Researchers reviewed a patient base of 3,222 young adults that were admitted to 419 U.S. hospitals for COVID-19, about 5 percent of the 780,969 total adults hospitalized for COVID-19 during that period.
Here's what they found:
1. About 21 percent (684 patients) required an intensive care stay.
2. Ten percent (331 patients) required mechanical ventilation.
3. About 2.7 percent (88 patients) died.
4. Median length of stay among young adults was four days. For patients who survived hospitalization, 3 percent (99 patients) were discharged to a post-acute care facility.
Researchers concluded, "This in-hospital mortality rate is lower than that reported for older adults with COVID-19, but approximately double that of young adults with acute myocardial infarction."
Read the entire study here.
