Introduction:

COVID-19, rocked the world in December 2019. Since its inception, it has been observed that older patients are prone to develop severe forms of the disease.

Objective:

To determine the role of age as a variable associated with severity in COVID-19 patients.

Methods:

A retrospective cohort analytical study was conducted in 150 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, during March to June 2020. The severity was analyzed according to age groups, and a simple binary logistic regression model was used. Clinical and laboratory variables at hospital admission were summarized for the comparison of two age groups from the optimal cut-off point for age using the ROC curve. The free software R version 4.0.2 (22-06-2020) was used for processing.

Results:

The age of the patients had a wide range, with disease severity predominating in the older age groups. The optimal cut-off point calculated was 71.5. Was observed that from 70 years of age onwards patients had greater comorbidity and altered laboratory tests. Likewise, a greater number of symptoms, hospital stay, and number of deaths.

Conclusions:

Age is a risk factor associated with severity in patients with COVID-19, which increases significantly after 70 years of age, where a series of factors coexist which, together with advanced age, play an important role in the prognosis.

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