Nearly 9 in 10 COVID-19 Patients Who are Put on a Ventilator Die, New York Hospital Data Suggests
That doesn’t mean the ventilators caused harm, though.
By Yasemin Saplakoglu | Staff Writer

LIVE SCIENCE – April 23, 2020 | Around 88% of patients with COVID-19 who were put on a ventilator in a New York hospital system died, according to a new study.

In the new study, researchers analyzed data from 5,700 patients who were hospitalized from March 1 to April 4 through Northwell Health, the largest health system in New York, with 12 hospitals across New York City, Long Island and Westchester County. Of those patients, 2,634 were discharged or had died by the end of the study, and 320 patients with a recorded outcome were put on ventilators. Nearly 9 in 10 of those ventilated patients died.

But age made a difference. Around 76% of ventilated patients between the ages of 18 and 65 died, and 97%, of ventilated patients over the age of 65 died, according to the report.

Of the 2,634 patients, ventilated or not, about 21% died, according to the researchers. But that meant the majority, or 3,066, of the patients were still hospitalized when the study ended, which could have “biased the findings,” the authors wrote.