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What to Expect if You Are Hospitalized With COVID-19

Plus Questions patients and family members should be asking

Getty Images Most people who contract COVID-19, the illness caused by the , are able to heal at home without medical care. But for individuals with more severe cases of the disease, a trip to the hospital may be in order. What happens when you're there? And what does recovery look like once you leave? Medical experts outline what you can expect if you are hospitalized with a coronavirus infection. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.

Which symptom is sending most people to the hospital

There isn't a single symptom; doctors are seeing patients with coronavirus infections come in for a number of reasons. Some are going to the hospital with trouble breathing, says geriatrician June McKoy, an associate professor of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Others are seeking care for weakness caused by , including loss of appetite and diarrhea. Dizziness, confusion or a sudden change in mental status is another common reason people — especially older adults — . McKoy says one possible explanation for this symptom is that the oxygen levels feeding the brain start to drop, leaving the patient “a little bit befuddled.” In some instances, the onset of dizziness and confusion may cause a person to fall and fracture a bone or two. "So the presentations are quite atypical,” McKoy says. “The mistake we continue to make is to believe that COVID-19 infection only presents with respiratory symptoms, and that's not true.” Anyone can get severely ill from a coronavirus infection. However, adults 65 and older and people with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, are at highest risk.

What happens once you are admitted

Things have changed since the initial surge of the pandemic when most hospitals, especially in the New York City area, “were made up of a lot of ICUs [intensive care units] and patients were coming in in very bad condition,” says Benjamin Salter, an anesthesiologist and assistant professor at Mount Sinai Health System in Manhattan. Now it's common for hospitals to have “varying levels of COVID-care units,” Salter says, where patients with less critical symptoms receive care — albeit in an isolated area where staff members wear masks and other forms of personal protective equipment. “It's the same as you being admitted to the hospital for a normal, noncritical condition, except that we are going to treat you like you have an airborne disease,” he says. If your doctor decides that you should be hospitalized for COVID-19 but you are not in need of , you will likely end up in a COVID unit. The type of treatment one receives here depends on the severity of illness. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > If worsen or you came into the hospital in a more severely ill state, your health care team will likely admit you to the ICU to be monitored more closely, she says. Overwhelmingly, the conditions that warrant critical care are “significant respiratory compromise or significant cardiovascular compromise,” Salter says. “If [a patient] is starting to necessitate higher levels of blood pressure support, that will require admission to an ICU; if their respiratory situation is starting to get compromised, and we really need to change the invasiveness of their oxygen therapy, they need to go to a critical care unit,” Salter adds.

Will I be put on a ventilator

Just because someone is admitted to the ICU with respiratory complications doesn't mean they'll automatically be intubated and put on a ventilator — a machine that moves air in and out of the lungs by way of a breathing tube. Despite the need for the breathing machines early on in the outbreak, McKoy anticipates that ventilators “are not going to be the treatment going forward.” And that's because recent research shows that when it comes to coronavirus patients. A study in the Lancet, for example, found that more than 80 percent of adult patients 80 and older who were put on a ventilator did not survive. (McKoy says in older adults, especially, the pressure of the oxygen from the machine can cause more harm than good to the lungs, including swelling and inflammation that can lead to a cascade of problems.) Similarly, a report published in JAMA found that only a small percentage of patients that had been put on a ventilator (3.3 percent) were discharged alive between March 1 and April 4, 2020. Nearly a quarter of the 1,151 patients who required mechanical ventilation died, and about 72 percent remained in the hospital at the end of the study period. Getty Images All of this isn't to say ventilators aren't ever needed. It's just there are “very, very few cases where you need to be on a ventilator,” McKoy says. Physicians have found that less invasive oxygen therapies, including high-flow nasal cannulas, for example, are successful in treating some COVID-19 patients, especially when the patient is positioned on the stomach. This method delivers warm, humidified oxygen to the lungs through the nose, bypassing the risk of further lung injury caused by ventilators. McKoy's advice to patients and family members: Ask your health care team about the oxygen therapy options available and their associated risks. If the patient is older, requesting a consult from a geriatrician may also be helpful. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. , even if you are young and healthy. This shouldn't be thought of as a grim chore, McKoy says, but rather an empowering one. Advance directives are documents that specify the types of medical care you would and would not want in the event you are unable to communicate your wishes to doctors. "It just may be a time [to be] looking at what you want done, in general — not as it relates to COVID — but COVID should raise your awareness of the fact that we all, no matter how young we are … we need to have some advance directives made,” she adds. Finally: Take action to minimize your risks for hospitalization in the first place, Salter says. If you have diabetes, make sure it's managed properly. If you smoke, quit. And if you need more physical activity, think of various ways to incorporate exercise into your routine. "It's never too late to take your health and your life into your own hands. And this should be a wake-up call,” Salter says. More on health AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS