{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T21:59:22Z","timestamp":1768255162947,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,11]],"date-time":"2025-06-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1749600000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Limited data are available on long-term morbidity and mortality after hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this registry-based study, we investigated long-term mortality and morbidity following hospitalization for COVID-19 and examined associations with baseline medication load.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Data were provided by the Austrian Health Insurance Funds on hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 2020 and matched controls. The primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality conditional on survival of initial COVID-19 hospitalization and re-hospitalization.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The median follow-up was 600\u202fdays. A total of 22,571 patients aged &amp;gt;18 were hospitalized in Austria in 2020 due to COVID-19. The risk of mortality was significantly higher with polypharmacy. With the exception of the youngest age group (19\u201340\u202fyears), patients receiving antiepileptics, antipsychotics, or iron supplements, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, vitamin B12, or folic acid in the year before hospitalization were significantly associated with a higher risk of mortality (all <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f0.001). For patients with prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other anti-inflammatory drugs, significantly increased survival was observed (all <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>-values &amp;lt;0.001). Patients had a higher medication load than the control population. Long-term mortality and the risk of re-hospitalization for any reason were also significantly higher among patients.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Antipsychotics and antidepressants appear to be underrecognized in identifying patients at risk for severe outcomes after hospitalization for COVID-19.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1565677","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,11]],"date-time":"2025-06-11T05:14:56Z","timestamp":1749618896000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Baseline medication load and long-term outcomes in COVID-19-hospitalized patients: results of the 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