Post-discharge mortality in the first wave of COVID-19 in Turkey

Objective: To determine post-discharge mortality and associated factors of the first-wave multicenter Turkish Thoracic Society(TTD)-TURCOVID study. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed the data of 18 of 26 centers included in the first TTD-TURCOVID study, and 1 112 cases diagnosed with COVID-19 between 11 March and 31 July 2020 participated in the study. All causes of death after COVID-19 discharge were recorded.Results: The mean age of the patients was(51.07±16.93) years, with 57.6% male patients. In the cohort group, 89.1% of COVID-19 treatment locations were hospital wards, 3.6% were intensive care units(ICUs), and 7.2% were community outpatients. In the longterm follow-up, the in-hospital mortality rate was 3.6%(95% CI 2.6-4.8), the post-discharge mortality rate was 2.8%(95% CI 1.9-3.9), and the total mortality was 6.3%(95% CI 5.0-7.8). After discharge, 63.3% of mortality overall occurred during the first six months. Mortality rates in post-discharge follow-ups were 12.7%(95% CI 8.0-30.6) in cancer patients, 10.8%(95% CI 6.3-22.9) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, 11.1%(95% CI 4.4-22.7) in heart failure patients, 7.8(95% CI 3.8-14.3) in atherosclerotic heart disease patients, and 2.3%(95% CI 0.8-5.6) in diabetes mellitus patients. In smokers/ex-smokers, the all-mortality rates were higher than in non-smokers.Conclusions: This multicenter study showed that patients over 65 years of age, males, former/active smoker, ICU stay, lung, heart disease, and malignancy should be followed up for at least the first six months after discharge due to COVID-19.