UW-CTRI
UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention
Dementia patient with COVID-19

All-cause Dementia Associated with Increased Mortality and Hospice Risk From COVID-19

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Machine learning

Study: Machine Learning Used to Analyze 150,000 COVID-19 Patients, Predict Mortality

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CEC-UW Publications

  1. Fiore MC, Smith SS, Adsit RT, Bolt DM, Conner KL et al. (2022) The First 20 Months of the Covid-19 Pandemic: Mortality, Intubation, and ICU Rates Among 104,590 Patients Hospitalized at 21 United States Health Systems. PLOS ONE. Online September 28, 2022.
    • Rates of death, intubation, and admission to intensive care improved markedly during the first 20 months of the pandemic among adults hospitalized with COVID-19.
    • News release
  2. Nolan MB, Piasecki TM, Smith SS, Baker TB, Fiore MC et al. (2022) Relations of Current and Past Cancer with Severe Outcomes among 104,590 Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: The COVID EHR Cohort at the University of Wisconsin. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. EPI-22-0500. Online August 15, 2022.
    • A current cancer diagnosis posed a significant risk for severe outcomes (ICU admission and death) over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior COVID-19 vaccination significantly reduced the risk of death amongst cancer patients who develop COVID-19.
    • News release
  3. Piasecki T, Smith SS, Baker TB, Slutske WS, Adsit RT et al. (2022) Smoking Status, Nicotine Medication, Vaccination, and COVID-19 Hospital Outcomes; Findings From the COVID EHR Cohort at the University of Wisconsin (CEC-UW) Study. Nicotine Tobacco Research. Online September 7, 2022.
    • Among current smokers hospitalized with COVID-19, prescriptions for nicotine patches, lozenges, or gum were associated with reduced mortality.
    • News release
  4. Baker TB, Bolt DM, Smith SS, Piasecki TM, Conner KL et al. (2023) The Relationship of COVID-19 Vaccination with Mortality Among 86,732 Hospitalized Patients: Subpopulations, Patient Factors, and Changes Over Time. Journal of General Internal Medicine. Online January 18, 2023.
    • Having a COVID-19 vaccination reduces the likelihood of dying from COVID and the size of this effect differs across different patient groups. In particular, the benefits of vaccination are especially great for some of those who otherwise would have had the greatest risk of SARS-CoV-2 mortality.
    • News release
  5. Nolan MB, Nolan ME, Piasecki TM, Fiore MC. (2023) Mortality by Age Group and Intubation Status in Adult Hospitalized Patients from 21 U.S. Hospital Systems during Three Surges of the COVID-19 Pandemic. CHEST. S0012-3692(23)00160-5. Online January 23, 2023.
    • Through three COVID-19 surges, these data illustrate the stepwise increase in overall mortality rates by age up to ≥90 years. Though intubated patients had differentially higher mortality rates during the delta wave, mortality rates among those patients who required intubation peaked among those aged 70 to 79 years during all three surges. If patients were sick enough to require mechanical ventilation, mortality rates were remarkably consistent regardless of vaccination status.
  6. Baker TB, Loh WY, Piasecki TM, Bolt DM, Smith SS et al. A Machine Learning Analysis of Correlates of Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19. Scientific Reports. 13, 4080. Online March 11, 2023.
    • This research used machine learning strategies to explore the associations of demographic and comorbidity risk factors with mortality in a large sample of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The 10 risk factors with the strongest overall associations with mortality, reflecting both their main and interactive effects, were age, uncomplicated hypertension, insurance status, site (health system), renal failure, diabetes, vaccination status (binary and number of immunizations), complicated hypertension, and sex.
    • News release
  7. Piasecki TM and CEC-UW Project Team. (2023) COVID 19 Hospital Outcomes in CEC-UW: Investigating Potential Disparities in Vulnerable Populations and Comparing Effects Over Health Systems. [White paper]. University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. Online July 18, 2023.
    • Summary: Is membership in vulnerable groups associated with disparate mortality outcomes in the hospitalized CEC-UW sample? There was evidence for increased adjusted odds of mortality in Asians and Hispanic patients compared to non-Hispanic Whites, and in rural-residing patients compared to urban dwellers. Black patients and those with a history of psychiatric disorders were not found to experience
      differential mortality relative to comparison groups (NHW and those without a psychiatric disorder history, respectively).
  8. Kirsch JA, Slutske WS, McCarthy DE, Smith SS, Williams BS, Piasecki TM, Conner KL, Fiore MC. (2023) Factors Associated with 60-day Readmission among Inpatients with COVID-19 at 21 United States Health Systems. Journal of Medical Virology. Online July 20, 2023.
    • Summary: This retrospective cohort study of 60-day readmission included 105,543 COVID-19 survivors at 21 US healthcare systems who were discharged alive between February 2020 and November 2021 and later readmitted. The all-cause readmission rate was 15 percent. Factors associated with readmission included positive smoking history, male sex, government insurance, co-morbidity burden, longer index admissions, and diagnoses at index admission (e.g., cancer, chronic kidney disease, and liver disease).
  9. Slutske WS, Conner KL, Kirsch JA, Smith SS, Piasecki TM, Johnson AL, McCarthy DE, Henderson PN, Fiore MC. (2023) Explaining COVID-19 Related Mortality Disparities in American Indians and Alaska Natives. Scientific Reports. 13:20974. Online November 28, 2023.
    • Summary: Comorbidities, area social deprivation, and access to treatment were all important contributors to the mortality disparity between American Indians and Alaska Natives compared to white inpatients with COVID-19. While those three factors were important contributors, they didn’t explain all of the disparity. Some likely reflects legacies of failing to address historical and ongoing inequities. Other factors could include housing, frontline workers, and access to transportation or the Internet.
    • News article
  10. Williams BS, Piasecki TM, Fiore MC, Conner KL, Slutske WS. Hospital Outcomes for Young Adults With COVID-19. Global Epidemiology. Online July 5, 2024.
    • Summary: Young Adults who were hospitalized with symptomatic COVID-19 had a mortality rate of 2.6%. A cancer diagnosis was associated with a 2.1 times increased odds of death during hospitalization. Young adults who received a COVID-19 vaccination had a >40% lower odds of ICU admission compared to those without a history of vaccination. The highest percentage of admissions of young adults with symptomatic COVID-19 occurred during the Delta Wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  11. Johnson AL, Chin NA, Piasecki TM, Conner KL, Baker TB, Fiore MC, Slutske WS. COVID-19 Outcomes Among Patients with Dementia and Age Matched Controls who were Hospitalized in 21 U.S. Healthcare Systems. Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
    • Summary: There are many forms of dementia. All-cause dementia was associated with increased mortality risk from COVID-19. However, this risk was much lower than what was found in previous studies, and was not found in the two most common forms of dementia–Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and vascular dementia. However, when discharge to hospice care was included as a mortality equivalent, all forms of dementia were predictive of mortality.
    • News release
  12. Slutske WS, Kirsch JM, Piasecki TM, Conner KL, Williams B, Fiore MC, Bernstein SL. Correlates of Improved Outcomes In Patients with COVID-19 Treated In US Emergency Departments. American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Online September 14, 2024.
  13. Gu D, Ha P, Kaye JT, Fiore MC, & Tsoh JY. Cigarette Smoking Status and COVID-19 Hospitalization in the Context of Cannabis Use: An Electronic Health Record Cohort Study in Northern California. Addictive Behavior Reports. In press.

CEC-UW Essentials

1.6 million + COVID-19 patients

21 Health Systems

CEC-UW Publications