July 23, 2020

The Contribution of the Age Distribution of Cases to COVID-19 Case Fatality Across Countries: A 9-Country Demographic Study

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

• In a cross-sectional study using population-based data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in 9 countries, Sudharsanan et al. observed an overall large variation in case-fatality. The highest case-fatality was reported in Italy (9.3%), and the lowest in Germany (0.7%). Adjustment for the age distribution of cases explains 66% of the between-country variation. The resulting age-standardized median case fatality was 1.9%. The authors conclude that it is important to focus on age-adjusted case fatality when comparing performance in caring for patients with COVID-19 and for monitoring the epidemic over time. 

Sudharsanan et al. (July 22, 2020). The Contribution of the Age Distribution of Cases to COVID-19 Case Fatality Across Countries: A 9-Country Demographic Study. Annals of Internal Medicine. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/m20-2973