Association of COVID-19 with risks of all-cause and cause-specific mortality post-infection: A UK Biobank cohort study.

Authors

Ruoyu Zhang, Yong Xiang, Jinghong Qiu, Hon-Cheong So

Published in

New microbes and new infections. Volume 72. Pages 101809. Epub Jul 06, 2026.

Abstract

While SARS-CoV-2 causes multi-organ complications, comprehensive assessments of long-term mortality across organ systems remain limited. This study systematically evaluated COVID-19's impact on all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
This cohort study followed 467,522 UK Biobank participants (Jan2020-Dec2022). COVID-19 exposure (representing clinically apparent infection) was classified as overall, hospitalized, and non-hospitalized, and compared with reference cohort without documented SARS-CoV-2 records. Post-acute mortality (>30 days post-infection) was assessed using landmark analyses; overall-mortality (including acute-phase deaths) was evaluated as secondary analyses and presented in Supplementary Materials. Adjusted Cox models estimated risks for 12 organ systems and 47 diseases, with subgroup analyses by key comorbidities and demographics.
Post-acute all-cause mortality was elevated in overall (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.50) and hospitalized (HR: 3.06) COVID-19 cohorts, but not non-hospitalized group. COVID-19 infection increased post-acute mortality from circulatory, digestive, genitourinary, neurological, respiratory, and external causes, as well as neoplasms (though elevated cancer mortality without prior diagnoses may reflect detection bias). Hospitalized cases showed elevated risks across 11/11 organ systems and 27/37 diseases; non-hospitalized cases showed increased risks for external-cause and neurological outcomes. Advanced age, atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease, and hypertension exacerbated post-acute all-cause mortality; atrial fibrillation also amplified respiratory and neurological risks.
Clinically apparent COVID-19 was associated with elevated post-acute mortality across multiple systems, with hospitalized cases exhibiting the broadest risk spectrum. As controls may include unrecorded infections, these estimates are likely conservative. Sustained monitoring is warranted, particularly for older survivors and those with high-risk comorbidities.

PMID:
42472251
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 19 Jul 2026.

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