Factors Affecting the Survival of Early COVID-19 Patients in South Korea: An Observational Study based on the Korean National Health Insurance Big Data

Byeon, Kyeong Hyang; Kim, Dong Wook; Kim, Jaiyong; Choi, Bo Youl; Choi, Boyoung; Cho, Kyu Dong

Objectives This study aims to identify the survival rate and to explore factors affecting survival among early COVID-19 patients in South Korea. Methods Data reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) up to July 15, when COVID-19 was confirmed, were used as research data in connection with the National Health Insurance Service’s (NHIS) national health information database. The final analysis targets were 12,646 confirmed patients and 303 deaths. The survival rate of patients with COVID-19 was estimated through Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed to search for factors affecting survival. Results When looking at the survival rate by age group for men and women, the 28-day survival rate for men over 80 years old was 77% and 73% for 42 days, while 83% and 81% for women. Men had a poor survival rate than women. In chronic diseases, the highest risk of mortality was observed in malignant neoplasms of the respiratory and urogenital systems, followed by diseases of the urinary system and diabetes. Conclusions The number of COVID-19 deaths was highest the next day after initial diagnosis. The case fatality rate was high in males, older age, and chronic diseases.