Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to high mortality and morbidity rates, especially in individuals over 65 years of age. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of hematologic parameters, inflammatory rates and chronic diseases at the time of admission in COVID-19 patients over 65 years of age in predicting the need for hospitalization.
Materials and Methods: A total of 1392 patients aged ≥65 years admitted to the emergency department with a diagnosis of COVID-19 were included in our retrospective study. Ratios such as neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and hematological parameters were analyzed. In addition, comorbidity status and the need for hospitalization were assessed.
Results: NLR (≥4.8) and PLR (≥165) were significantly higher in patients requiring hospitalization (p<0.001). Low lymphocyte levels (<1.0 × 10⁹/L) were found to be another important parameter predicting the need for hospitalization. According to ROC analysis, the area under the curve (AUC) for NLR was 0.762, 0.724 for PLR and 0.728 for chronic renal failure (CRF). Comorbidities such as malignancy, hypertension and chronic renal failure were also observed to increase the need for hospitalization (p<0.01).
Conclusion: Our study shows that inflammatory markers such as NLR and PLR are powerful tools for predicting the need for hospitalization in COVID-19 patients over 65 years of age with a history of CRF and malignancy. Integrating these parameters into clinical applications and using them in early diagnosis and intervention processes can make a significant contribution to the management of elderly individuals. Our findings provide data to guide the development of clinical decision support systems.