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Prognostic factors for severity and mortality in patients infected with COVID-19: A systematic review
Izcovich A, Ragusa MA, Tortosa F, Lavena Marzio MA, Agnoletti C, Bengolea A, Ceirano A, Espinosa F et al.. PloS one, 2020-11-17
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Results We included 207 studies and found high or moderate certainty that the following 49 variables provide valuable prognostic information on mortality and/or severe disease in patients with COVID-19 infectious disease: Demographic factors (age, male sex, smoking), patient history factors (comorbidities, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cardiac arrhythmia, arterial hypertension, diabetes, dementia, cancer and dyslipidemia), physical examination factors (respiratory failure, low blood pressure, hypoxemia, tachycardia, dyspnea, anorexia, tachypnea, haemoptysis, abdominal pain, fatigue, fever and myalgia or arthralgia), laboratory factors (high blood procalcitonin, myocardial injury markers, high blood White Blood Cell count (WBC), high blood lactate, low blood platelet count, plasma creatinine increase, high blood D-dimer, high blood lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), high blood C-reactive protein (CRP), decrease in lymphocyte count, high blood aspartate aminotransferase (AST), decrease in blood albumin, high blood interleukin-6 (IL-6), high blood neutrophil count, high blood B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), high blood urea nitrogen (BUN), high blood creatine kinase (CK), high blood bilirubin and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)), radiological factors (consolidative infiltrate and pleural effusion) and high SOFA score (sequential organ failure assessment score). Conclusion Identified prognostic factors can help clinicians and policy makers in tailoring management strategies for patients with COVID-19 infectious disease while researchers can utilise our findings to develop multivariable prognostic models that could eventually facilitate decision-making and improve patient important outcomes.
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APA 7th
Izcovich, A., Ragusa, M. A., Tortosa, F., Lavena Marzio, M. A., Agnoletti, C., Bengolea, A., et al. (2020). Prognostic factors for severity and mortality in patients infected with COVID-19: A systematic review. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241955
Vancouver
Izcovich A, Ragusa MA, Tortosa F, Lavena Marzio MA, Agnoletti C, Bengolea A, et al. Prognostic factors for severity and mortality in patients infected with COVID-19: A systematic review. PloS one. 2020. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241955. PMID: 33201896.
BibTeX
@article{izcovich2020-33201896,
author = {Izcovich, A. and Ragusa, M. A. and Tortosa, F. and Lavena Marzio, M. A. and Agnoletti, C. and Bengolea, A. and Ceirano, A. and Espinosa, F. and others},
title = {{Prognostic factors for severity and mortality in patients infected with COVID-19: A systematic review}},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0241955},
pmid = {33201896},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241955}
}
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Key findings
- Results We included 207 studies and found high or moderate certainty that the following 49 variables provide valuable prognostic information on mortality and/or severe disease in patients with COVID-19 infectious disease: Demographic factors (age, male sex, smoking), patient history factors (comorbi
- Conclusion Identified prognostic factors can help clinicians and policy makers in tailoring management strategies for patients with COVID-19 infectious disease while researchers can utilise our findings to develop multivariable prognostic models that could eventually facilitate decision-making and improve patient important outcomes.
Why it matters
This systematic review of 207 studies found that dementia is among the patient history factors providing prognostic information on mortality and severe disease in people with COVID-19. It concerns predicting COVID-19 outcomes, not treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Study designsystematic review
- Participants207
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 72/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a systematic review of all the studies on the question. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (PloS one) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | PLoS ONE: journal h-index 594 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 12 / 12 | A systematic review of all the studies on the question |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 207 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | A review of other studies — randomisation is not credited here |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 668 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 83.5 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 7.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 119 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Gabriel Rada G: h-index 44 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Toronto: institution h-index 1,923 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 33201896) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 72 / 100 | — |
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