Inpatient Mortality and Risk Factors Among Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries Ages 65 and Older with COVID-19 Treated with COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP), During 2020-2021
- 1FDA/CBER
Abstract
BackgroundCOVID-19 has had a substantial burden on older adults aged 65+. This studys objective was to evaluate inpatient mortality among hospitalized Fee-for-Service (FFS) Medicare beneficiaries ages 65+ with COVID-19 treated with COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) during August 2020-December 2021: overall, monthly, and by patient and hospital characteristics.
Study Design and MethodsOur retrospective claims-based study utilized large Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrative databases to assess inpatient COVID-19 stays with recorded CCP transfusions among FFS Medicare beneficiaries ages 65+. CCP transfusions were identified by recorded procedure codes, and inpatient mortality via the patient status discharge code. Crude inpatient mortality rates (per 100 CCP transfusion stays with COVID-19) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were evaluated across a range of patient and hospital characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess potential risk factors.
ResultsThe overall crude inpatient mortality was 25.5% (95%CI:25.2%-25.8%), declining from 30.7% (95%CI:29.1%-32.3%) in August 2020 to 7.4% (95%CI:3.8%-15.0%) in December 2021, p<0.001. The study identified significantly higher adjusted odds of inpatient mortality for each year of advancing age (1.06; 95%CI:1.06-1.07), immunocompromised (IC) vs. non-IC (1.14; 95%CI:1.05-1.24), males vs. females (1.20; 95%CI:1.15-1.25), Medicaid-eligible vs. not (1.13; 95%CI:1.07-1.20), medium (1.14; 95%CI:1.06-1.22) and large (1.09; 95%CI:1.01-1.19) compared to small hospitals, with ICU/CCU admission vs. not (2.71; 95%CI:2.57-2.85), mechanical ventilation<96 hours (13.11; 95%CI:12.11-14.20) and [≥]96 hours (11.59; 95%CI:10.89-12.34) vs. not, among others.
DiscussionThe findings highlight importance of patient and hospital characteristics, including demographics, comorbidities, socioeconomic status, and COVID-19 severity, for inpatient mortality among Medicare beneficiaries receiving CCP.
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BibTeX
@misc{menis2026inpatient,
title = {{Inpatient Mortality and Risk Factors Among Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries Ages 65 and Older with COVID-19 Treated with COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP), During 2020-2021}},
author = {M. Menis and N. Duma and S. Barney and Y. Chillarige and W. R. Steele and S. H. Chang and C. H. Villa and A. F. Eder and B. I. Whitaker},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.22.26365943},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.22.26365943v1},
note = {CC0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Inpatient Mortality and Risk Factors Among Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries Ages 65 and Older with COVID-19 Treated with COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP), During 2020-2021
AU - M. Menis
AU - N. Duma
AU - S. Barney
AU - Y. Chillarige
AU - W. R. Steele
AU - S. H. Chang
AU - C. H. Villa
AU - A. F. Eder
AU - B. I. Whitaker
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.22.26365943
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.22.26365943v1
AB - BackgroundCOVID-19 has had a substantial burden on older adults aged 65+. This studys objective was to evaluate inpatient mortality among hospitalized Fee-for-Service (FFS) Medicare beneficiaries ages 65+ with COVID-19 treated with COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) during August 2020-December 2021: overall, monthly, and by patient and hospital characteristics. Study Design and MethodsOur retrospective claims-based study utilized large Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrative databases to assess inpatient COVID-19 stays with recorded CCP transfusions among FFS Medicare beneficiaries ages 65+. CCP transfusions were identified by recorded procedure codes, and inpatient mortality via the patient status discharge code. Crude inpatient mortality rates (per 100 CCP transfusion stays with COVID-19) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were evaluated across a range of patient and hospital characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess potential risk factors. ResultsThe overall crude inpatient mortality was 25.5% (95%CI:25.2%-25.8%), declining from 30.7% (95%CI:29.1%-32.3%) in August 2020 to 7.4% (95%CI:3.8%-15.0%) in December 2021, p<0.001. The study identified significantly higher adjusted odds of inpatient mortality for each year of advancing age (1.06; 95%CI:1.06-1.07), immunocompromised (IC) vs. non-IC (1.14; 95%CI:1.05-1.24), males vs. females (1.20; 95%CI:1.15-1.25), Medicaid-eligible vs. not (1.13; 95%CI:1.07-1.20), medium (1.14; 95%CI:1.06-1.22) and large (1.09; 95%CI:1.01-1.19) compared to small hospitals, with ICU/CCU admission vs. not (2.71; 95%CI:2.57-2.85), mechanical ventilation<96 hours (13.11; 95%CI:12.11-14.20) and [≥]96 hours (11.59; 95%CI:10.89-12.34) vs. not, among others. DiscussionThe findings highlight importance of patient and hospital characteristics, including demographics, comorbidities, socioeconomic status, and COVID-19 severity, for inpatient mortality among Medicare beneficiaries receiving CCP.
ER -