Frontiers in Public Health (Jan 2023)

The prognostic value of the Barthel Index for mortality in patients with COVID-19: A cross-sectional study

  • Erchuan Wang,
  • Ao Liu,
  • Zixuan Wang,
  • Xiaoli Shang,
  • Lingling Zhang,
  • Yan Jin,
  • Yanling Ma,
  • Lei Zhang,
  • Tao Bai,
  • Jun Song,
  • Xiaohua Hou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.978237
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze the association between the activity of daily living (ADL), coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the value of the Barthel Index in predicting the prognosis of patients.MethodsThis study included 398 patients with COVID-19, whose ADL at admission to hospital were assessed with the Barthel Index. The relationship between the index and the mortality risk of the patients was analyzed. Several regression models and a decision tree were established to evaluate the prognostic value of the index in COVID-19 patients.ResultsThe Barthel Index scores of deceased patients were significantly lower than that of discharged patients (median: 65 vs. 90, P < 0.001), and its decrease indicated an increased risk of mortality in patients (P < 0.001). After adjusting models for age, gender, temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, mean arterial pressure, oxygen saturation, etc., the Barthel Index could still independently predict prognosis (OR = 0.809; 95% CI: 0.750–0.872). The decision tree showed that patients with a Barthel Index of below 70 had a higher mortality rate (33.3–40.0%), while those above 90 were usually discharged (mortality: 2.7–7.2%).ConclusionThe Barthel Index is of prognostic value for mortality in COVID-19 patients. According to their Barthel Index, COVID-19 patients can be divided into emergency, observation, and normal groups (0–70; 70–90; 90–100), with different treatment strategies.

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