Profile of Covid-19 deaths in an adult intensive care unit

Abstract

Objective: to describe the profile of patients with covid-19 who died in an intensive care unit. Method: observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study, carried out in a philanthropic hospital in the city of Recife, Pernambuco, from March 2020 to March 2021. A simple descriptive statistical analysis was performed on the Death Certificates of patients with a positive result for SARS-CoV ‐2 after consultation with the Hospital Epidemiology Center. Results: 190 patients with covid-19 were admitted, whose lethality corresponded to 38%. Of the deaths, the majority (56%) were male, aged between 70-79 years (28%) and completed high school (22%). The most prevalent associated diseases were severe acute respiratory syndrome (60%) and septic shock (24%), with hospital stay between 11 and 20 days (38%). Conclusion: the deaths predominated in men, elderly, literate and with a previous diagnosis of arterial hypertension and diabetes. Understanding population characteristics contributes to the advancement of coping with the disease.