WEDNESDAY, Feb. 10, 2021 (HealthDay News)
A lack of ICU beds and other resources was linked to a higher rate of deaths among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the early stages of the pandemic in the United States, researchers say.
The investigators analyzed data collected from more than 4,400 hospitals nationwide from March 1 to July 26, 2020, and found that fewer resources per COVID-19 patient including intensive care unit (ICU) beds, intensivists or critical care physicians, emergency physicians, nurses and general hospital beds was associated with more deaths in April.
The strongest association was with ICU bed availability. For every additional ICU bed per COVID-19 case, there was a one-fifth decrease in the death rate during April, according to the team from Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
Study finds link between lack of ICU beds and patient mortality during COVID-19 pandemic
A new study by Yale researchers found a significant association between the availability of hospital resources particularly ICU beds and patient mortality during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was especially true at hospitals in the northeastern U.S. which were hardest hit by the first surge of patient cases, according to the study published in the
Journal of Hospital Medicine. There is a general narrative among people in healthcare that the more resources there are, the better we can take care of patients, said lead author Dr. Alexander Janke, a Yale Emergency Scholar in the fourth year of a five-year combined residency and health services research fellowship. This study begs the question are case fatality rates driven by changes in resources?
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New Haven, Conn. A new study by Yale researchers found a significant association between the availability of hospital resources particularly ICU beds and patient mortality during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was especially true at hospitals in the northeastern U.S. which were hardest hit by the first surge of patient cases, according to the study published in the
Journal of Hospital Medicine. There is a general narrative among people in healthcare that the more resources there are, the better we can take care of patients, said lead author Dr. Alexander Janke, a Yale Emergency Scholar in the fourth year of a five-year combined residency and health services research fellowship. This study begs the question are case fatality rates driven by changes in resources?