COVID-19-Related Fatalities and Intensive-Care-Unit Admissions by Age Groups in Europe: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Objectives: Precise international estimates of the age breakdown of COVID-19-related deaths and intensive-care-unit (ICU) admissions are lacking. We evaluated the distribution of COVID-19-related fatalities and ICU admissions by age groups in Europe. Materials and methods: On April 6, 2020, we systematically reviewed official COVID-19-related data from 32 European countries. We included countries that provided data regarding more than 10 COVID-19-related deaths stratified by age according to pre-specified age groups (i.e., <40, 40-69, ≥70 years). We used random-effects meta-analysis to summarize the data. Results: Thirteen European countries were included in the review, for a total of 31,864 COVID-19-related deaths (range: 27-14,381 per country). In the main meta-analysis (including data from Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland; 21,522 COVID-19-related fatalities), the summary proportions of individuals <40, 40-69, and ≥70 years old among all COVID-19-related deaths were 0.1% (0.0-0.2; I ² 28.6%), 13.0% (10.8-15.4; I ² 91.5%), and 86.6% (84.2-88.9; I ² 91.5%), respectively. ICU data were available for four countries (France, Greece, Spain, Sweden). The summary proportions of individuals around <40-50, around 40-69, and around ≥60-70 years old among all COVID-19-related ICU admissions were 5.4% (3.4-7.8; I ² 89.0%), 52.6% (41.8-63.3; I ² 98.1%), and 41.8% (32.0-51.9; I ² 99%), respectively. Conclusions: People under 40 years old represent a small fraction of most severe COVID-19 cases in Europe. These results may help health authorities respond to public concerns and guide future physical distancing and mitigation strategies. Specific measures to protect older people should be considered.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; age; coronavirus; epidemiology; intensive care unit; meta-analysis; mortality.

Figure 1

Distribution of age groups for all COVID-19–related deaths in Europe: meta-analysis. Each vertical dashed line is aligned with the meta-analysis summary estimate of the corresponding age group.