Table 1.
Characteristics of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the hospital between March 2020 and July 2021
| All patients | NIV group | HFNO group | NIV + HFNO group | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute and relative frequencies, n (%) | 266 | 92 (34.5) | 31 (11.6) | 143 (53.8) | |
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 62 (49–73) | 64 (49–79) | 62 (55–71) | 62 (48–72) | 0.615 |
| Sex, n (%) | |||||
| Male | 185 (69.5) | 59 (31.9) | 22 (11.9) | 104 (56.2) | 0.370 |
| Female | 81 (30.4) | 33 (40.7) | 9 (11.1) | 39 (48.1) | |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | |||||
| COPD | 13 (4.9) | 5 (38.4) | 1 (7.7) | 7 (53.8) | 0.885 |
| Asthma | 15 (5.6) | 5 (33.3) | 0 (0) | 10 (66.6) | 0.308 |
| Heart failure | 11 (4.1) | 6 (54.5)† | 4 (36.3)† | 1 (9) | 0.003 |
| Arterial hypertension | 166 (62.4) | 55 (33.1) | 20 (12) | 91 (54.8) | 0.810 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 85 (31.9) | 32 (37.6) | 15 (17.6) | 38 (44.7)# | 0.048 |
| Kidney failure | 21 (7.9) | 10 (47.6) | 4 (19) | 7 (33.3) | 0.138 |
| Dementia | 8 (3) | 7 (87.5)†# | 0 (0) | 1 (12.5) | 0.006 |
| Other comorbidities | 169 (60.5) | 62 (36.7) | 16 (9.4) | 91 (53.8) | 0.463 |
| SAPS-3 score, median (IQR)a | 48 (43–54) | 47 (44–54) | 45.5 (42–49) | 49 (44–54) | 0.076 |
| BMI, n (%) | |||||
| < 30 kg/m2 | 113 (42.5) | 41 (36.2) | 12 (10.6) | 60 (53.9) | 0.446 |
| ≥ 30.0 kg/m2 | 91 (34.2) | 26 (28.6) | 13 (14.2) | 52 (57.1) | |
| Clinical parameters | |||||
| Time from symptom onset to hospital admission, n (%) | |||||
| 0–10 days | 132 (49.6) | 45 (34.1) | 16 (12.1) | 71 (53.7) | 0.052 |
| 11–20 days | 10 (3.8) | 2 (20) | 4 (40) | 4 (40) | |
| 21– > 30 days | 5 (1.5) | 1 (20) | 2 (40) | 2 (40) | |
| Chest CT score, n (%) | |||||
| 0%–25% | 15 (5.6) | 6 (40) | 1 (6.6) | 8 (53.3) | 0.038 |
| 26%–50% | 164 (61.6) | 62 (37.8) | 19 (11.5) | 83 (50.6) | |
| > 50% | 60 (22.6) | 8 (13.3) | 9 (15) | 43 (71.6)*# | |
| Undetermined | 3 (1.1) | 1 (33.3) | 0 (0) | 2 (66.6) | |
| Normal CT scan | 24 (9) | ||||
| SpO2/FiO2, median (IQR) | 251 [111–356] | 271 [118–365] | 317 [254 – 420] | 229 [102 – 317] # | 0.001 |
| RR, median (IQR) | 20 [18–25] | 20 [19–24] | 20 [17–21] | 21 [18–26] | 0.178 |
| ROX, median (IQR) | 11.2 [5.4–18.5] | 12.3 [5.2–19.4] | 16.8 [11–22.4] | 9.3 [4.9–15.8] # | 0.002 |
| Concomitant medications, n (%) | |||||
| Azithromycin | 140 (52.6) | 49 (35)# | 23 (16) | 68 (48.5)# | 0.026 |
| Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid | 38 (14.3) | 16 (42.1)# | 10 (26.3) | 12 (31.6)# | 0.002 |
| Dexamethasone | 236 (88.7) | 80 (33.9)# | 20 (8.4) | 136 (57.6)*# | < 0.001 |
| Kidney replacement therapy for acute kidney injury (dialysis), n (%) | 71 (26.7) | 22 (31) | 5 (7) | 44 (62) | 0.259 |
The descriptive analysis of the data is presented as absolute frequencies (n) and percentages according to the group except where indicated otherwise. Bonferroni multiple comparison tests were done for proportions or continuous variables, as appropriate
NIV non-invasive ventilation HFNO high-flow nasal oxygen, IQR interquartile range, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, SAPS Simplified Acute Physiology Score, BMI body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), CT computed tomography, SpO2/FiO2 peripheral oxygen saturation to inspired oxygen fraction ratio, RR respiratory rate, ROX Respiratory rate–OXygentation index
*Versus the NIV group
#Versus the HFNO group
†Versus the NIV + HFNO group
aSAPS-3 estimates the probability of mortality for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) on admission using patient characteristics, indication for ICU admission, and physiologic derangement on ICU admission
bData on comorbidities were obtained from the medical records