tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Public Health
. 2025 Jun 11:13:1565677.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1565677. eCollection 2025. Baseline medication load and long-term outcomes in COVID-19-hospitalized patients: results of the AUTCOVSTUDY
Alexandra Graf[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Berthold Reichardt[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Christine Wagenlechner[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP], Pavla Krotka[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Denise Traxler-Weidenauer[SUP] 3 4 5 [/SUP], Michael Mildner[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Julia Mascherbauer[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Clemens Aigner[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Johann Auer[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Ralph Wendt[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 9 [/SUP], Hendrik J Ankersmit[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Introduction: Limited data are available on long-term morbidity and mortality after hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this registry-based study, we investigated long-term mortality and morbidity following hospitalization for COVID-19 and examined associations with baseline medication load.
Methods: Data were provided by the Austrian Health Insurance Funds on hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 2020 and matched controls. The primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality conditional on survival of initial COVID-19 hospitalization and re-hospitalization.
Results: The median follow-up was 600 days. A total of 22,571 patients aged >18 were hospitalized in Austria in 2020 due to COVID-19. The risk of mortality was significantly higher with polypharmacy. With the exception of the youngest age group (19-40 years), patients receiving antiepileptics, antipsychotics, or iron supplements, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, vitamin B12, or folic acid in the year before hospitalization were significantly associated with a higher risk of mortality (all p < 0.001). For patients with prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other anti-inflammatory drugs, significantly increased survival was observed (all p-values <0.001). Patients had a higher medication load than the control population. Long-term mortality and the risk of re-hospitalization for any reason were also significantly higher among patients.
Discussion: Antipsychotics and antidepressants appear to be underrecognized in identifying patients at risk for severe outcomes after hospitalization for COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19 hospitalization; all-cause mortality; baseline medication load; polypharmacy; readmission; registry-based observational study.
. 2025 Jun 11:13:1565677.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1565677. eCollection 2025. Baseline medication load and long-term outcomes in COVID-19-hospitalized patients: results of the AUTCOVSTUDY
Alexandra Graf[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Berthold Reichardt[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Christine Wagenlechner[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP], Pavla Krotka[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Denise Traxler-Weidenauer[SUP] 3 4 5 [/SUP], Michael Mildner[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Julia Mascherbauer[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Clemens Aigner[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Johann Auer[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Ralph Wendt[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 9 [/SUP], Hendrik J Ankersmit[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 3 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 40567993
- PMCID: PMC12187735
- DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1565677
Introduction: Limited data are available on long-term morbidity and mortality after hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this registry-based study, we investigated long-term mortality and morbidity following hospitalization for COVID-19 and examined associations with baseline medication load.
Methods: Data were provided by the Austrian Health Insurance Funds on hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 2020 and matched controls. The primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality conditional on survival of initial COVID-19 hospitalization and re-hospitalization.
Results: The median follow-up was 600 days. A total of 22,571 patients aged >18 were hospitalized in Austria in 2020 due to COVID-19. The risk of mortality was significantly higher with polypharmacy. With the exception of the youngest age group (19-40 years), patients receiving antiepileptics, antipsychotics, or iron supplements, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, vitamin B12, or folic acid in the year before hospitalization were significantly associated with a higher risk of mortality (all p < 0.001). For patients with prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other anti-inflammatory drugs, significantly increased survival was observed (all p-values <0.001). Patients had a higher medication load than the control population. Long-term mortality and the risk of re-hospitalization for any reason were also significantly higher among patients.
Discussion: Antipsychotics and antidepressants appear to be underrecognized in identifying patients at risk for severe outcomes after hospitalization for COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19 hospitalization; all-cause mortality; baseline medication load; polypharmacy; readmission; registry-based observational study.