Objective: Analyzing the survival of older people hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Brazil and identifying its main predictive factors for death.
Method: This is a retrospective, multicenter cohort study, based on 20,831 records of hospitalizations of older people due to SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil. The observation period was from February 28 to May 18, 2020.
Results: There was a reduced overall survival time of 47.70% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [46.72%, 48.67%]) in 10 days. The variables age, race, education, intensive care unit (ICU), region, day of hospitalization, time elapsed between the first symptom and hospitalization, and the municipality that provided assistance showed increased risk of death using the multiple Cox proportional-hazards model.
Conclusion: These results emphasize the relevance of inequality and access to health services as determinants for the death of older people with COVID-19.
Keywords: hospitalization; population aging; risk factors.