Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of the Sample Population across Tertiles
| Characteristics | Overall, n (%) | Serum IL-6 Levels | p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low (<51 pg/mL) | Intermediate (51 to 251 pg/mL) | High (>251 pg/mL) | |||
| Frequency (%) | 1,120 (100%) | 376 (33.57%) | 373 (33.30%) | 371 (33.13%) | - |
| Interleukin-6 (in pg/mL) | 105 (31, 418) | 18 (7, 32) | 107 (78, 158) | 905 (418, 2,245) | - |
| Age (years) | 58.41 ± 15.33 | 55.89 ± 15.73 | 58.28 ± 15.63 | 61.10 ± 14.18 | 0.01* |
| ≤20 years | 4 (0.36%) | 2 (0.53%) | - | 2 (0.54%) | |
| 21-59 years | 554 (49.46%) | 209 (55.59%) | 192 (51.47%) | 153 (41.24%) | 0.01* |
| ≥60 years | 562 (50.18%) | 165 (43.88%) | 181 (48.53%) | 216 (58.22%) | |
| Sex of the patient | |||||
| Female | 505 (45.09%) | 197 (52.39%) | 156 (41.82%) | 152 (40.97%) | 0.01* |
| Male | 615 (54.91%) | 179 (47.61%) | 217 (58.18%) | 219 (59.03%) | |
| Presence of co-morbidities | |||||
| Hypertension | 781 (69.73%) | 244 (64.89%) | 267 (71.58%) | 270 (72.78%) | 0.04* |
| Diabetes mellitus | 508 (45.36%) | 151 (40.16%) | 179 (47.99%) | 178 (47.98%) | 0.05* |
| Creatinine | 81 (61, 137) | 71 (56, 97) | 82 (60, 126) | 98 (67, 251) | 0.01* |
| Severity of COVID-19 | |||||
| Mild | 104 (9.29%) | 69 (18.35%) | 22 (5.90%) | 13 (3.50%) | |
| Moderate | 295 (26.34%) | 148 (39.36%) | 99 (26.54%) | 48 (12.94%) | <0.01* |
| Severe | 697 (62.23%) | 157 (41.76%) | 239 (64.08%) | 301 (81.13%) | |
| Critical | 24 (2.14%) | 2 (0.53%) | 13 (3.49%) | 9 (2.43%) | |
| Treatment characteristics | |||||
| HD/HP | 247 (22.05%) | 48 (12.77%) | 75 (20.11%) | 124 (33.42%) | <0.01* |