Clinical and organizational factors associated with mortality during the peak of first COVID-19 wave: the global UNITE-COVID study

 

Intensive Care Medicine (2022) Published: 21 May 2022

 

This study including data on the peak of the pandemic from 240 centers in 46 countries shows the global impact of the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) wave on intensive care units (ICUs), which responded by increasing their capacity and opening ICU beds in non-ICU locations in two thirds of cases. A large proportion of patients (40%) were admitted to surge capacity beds, and most needed invasive mechanical ventilation (85%); admission to a surge capacity bed was not associated with survival, while age, acute kidney injury and ventilation were strongest predictors for mortality.