2024 Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages 75-82
Background: Clinical indices such as the prognostic nutrition score (PNI) and controlling nutritional status (CONUT) at admission have been associated with prognosis in the intensive care phase of severe COVID-19. However, the association between these indices and prognosis is unknown in patients in the post-intensive care period.
Methods: The subjects were 132 patients discharged from the Osaka Corona Critical Care Center (a recuperative care facility for severe COVID-19 patients in the post-intensive care period) from December 2020 to June 2021. Multivariate analysis was performed to examine the association of prognosis with patient factors at admission, including clinical indices.
Results: Death after discharge occurred in 39 patients (29.5%). Multivariate analysis using factors that defined the cutoff for mortality in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that total lymphocyte count (TLC) (≤400/μL), albumin (Alb) (≤2.1 g/dL) CONUT (≥8), PNI (≤24.5), and dose calories (≤17.7 kcal/kg/day) were significantly associated with mortality. The strongest mortality-related factor was TLC (≤400/μL), with an odds ratio of 5.88 (95% CI: 2.26–15.3, p = 0.00028).
Conclusion: TLC, Alb, PNI, CONUT, and calorific value on admission to a recuperative care facility were prognostic factors in patients with severe COVID-19. These findings suggest the importance of nutritional management from the intensive care phase.
