Table 2.
Baseline characteristics and outcomes in rheumatic disease patients with COVID-19 (n=34) and age, sex, race, and comorbidity index matched rheumatic disease comparators without COVID-19 (n=102)
| Characteristics | Inpatient COVID-19 (n=34) |
Inpatient comparators (n=102) |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female sex, n (%) | 27 (79%) | 81 (79%) | 1.00 |
| Age in years, mean [95% CI] | 65.2 [59.1–71.2] | 62.9 [61.3–64.6] | 0.52 |
| Race, n (%) | 0.92* | ||
| Caucasian | 9 (26%) | 31 (30%) | |
| Black or African American | 22 (65%) | 67 (66%) | |
| Other† | 3 (9%) | 4 (4%) | |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | |||
| Elixhauser index, mean [95% CI] | 10.2 [6.8–13.5] | 9.5 [8.6–10.3] | 0.72 |
| Pulmonary disease‡ | 8 (24%) | 23 (23%) | 1.00 |
| Diabetes | 10 (29%) | 30 (29%) | 1.00 |
| Renal disease | 12 (35%) | 38 (37%) | 1.00 |
| Cancer | 2 (6%) | 13 (13%) | 0.36 |
| Hypertension | 24 (71%) | 76 (75%) | 0.66 |
| Coronary artery disease | 6 (18%) | 17 (17%) | 0.66 |
| Congestive heart failure | 9 (26%) | 34 (33%) | 0.53 |
| Obesity, BMI 30+ kg/m2 | 13 (38%) | 32 (31%) | 0.53 |
| Smoking | 10 (29%) | 38 (37%) | 0.53 |
| AI diagnosis, n (%) | |||
| RA | 13 (38%) | 38 (37%) | 1.00 |
| SLE | 5 (15%) | 30 (29%) | 0.11 |
| PMR or GCA | 7 (21%) | 7 (7%) | 0.04 |
| Sarcoidosis | 2 (6%) | 5 (5%) | 1.00 |
| ILD | 2 (6%) | 1 (1%) | 0.15 |
| Vasculitis | 2 (6%) | 1 (1%) | 0.15 |
| Sjogren's syndrome | 1 (3%) | 4 (4%) | 1.00 |
| MCTD | 1 (3%) | 2 (2%) | 1.00 |
| Anti-synthetase syndrome | 0 (0%) | 3 (3%) | 0.57 |
| Castleman disease/TAFRO | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | 0.25 |
| Irritable bowel disease | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Inflammatory myopathy | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Inflammatory arthritis | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Mixed RA and SLE | 0 (0%) | 4 (4%) | 0.57 |
| SLE, RA, and Sjogren's disease | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Scleroderma | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Takayasu arteritis | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Medications, n (%) | |||
| Oral glucocorticoid | 24 (71%) | 59 (58%) | 0.23 |
| >10mg/day | 14 (41%) | 38 (38%) | 0.84 |
| HCQ | 10 (29%) | 52 (51%) | 0.03 |
| bDMARDs | 3 (9%) | 11 (11%) | 1.00 |
| Rituximab | 3 (9%) | 3 (3%) | 0.16 |
| anti-TNF | 0 (0%) | 3 (3%) | 0.57 |
| Infliximab | 0 (0%) | 2 (2%) | 1.00 |
| Tocilizumab | 0 (0%) | 2 (2%) | 1.00 |
| Ustekinumab | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| csDMARDs | 12 (35%) | 43 (42%) | 0.55 |
| Methotrexate | 5 (15%) | 20 (20%) | 0.62 |
| MMF | 4 (12%) | 10 (10%) | 0.75 |
| Azathioprine | 1 (3%) | 6 (6%) | 0.68 |
| Leflunomide | 2 (6%) | 2 (2%) | 0.26 |
| Mesalamine/sulfasalazine | 0 (0%) | 5 (5%) | 0.33 |
| tsDMARDs | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Tofacitinib | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Cyclophosphamide | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | 0.25 |
| Sirolimus | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | 0.25 |
| Vedolizumab | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Tacrolimus | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 1.00 |
| Presenting symptoms | |||
| Fever | 25 (74%) | 16 (16%) | 0.00 |
| Cough | 24 (71%) | 27 (27%) | 0.00 |
| Dyspnea | 18 (53%) | 42 (42%) | 0.17 |
| Myalgias | 10 (29%) | 1 (1%) | 0.00 |
| Diarrhea | 9 (26%) | 12 (12%) | 0.03 |
| Loss of taste or smell | 5 (15%) | 0 (0%) | 0.00 |
| Laboratory values, mean [95% CI] | |||
| Creatinine | 2.35 [1.03–3.68] | 2.64 [1.99–3.29] | 0.69 |
| C-reactive protein | 160.99 [117.35–204.63] | 76.09 [42.74–109.45] | 0.00 |
| D Dimer | 3180.8 [1781.8–4579.7] | 4422.3 [1788.1–7056.5] | 0.40 |
| Ferritin | 1004.57 [346.69–1662.45] | 1406.48 [469.94–2343.03] | 0.47 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase | 466.15 [305.40–626.90] | 408.71 [211.19–606.23] | 0.65 |
| Absolute neutrophil count | 8.08 [6.45–9.72] | 8.79 [7.61–9.96] | 0.48 |
| Absolute lymphocyte count | 1.51 [1.24–1.78] | 1.48 [1.31–1.64] | 0.86 |
| Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio | 10.58 [7.54–13.62] | 9.65 [7.68–11.62] | 0.61 |
| White blood cell count | 12.06 [9.53–14.58] | 12.47 [11.04–13.90] | 0.77 |
| Minimum albumin | 2.89 [2.69–3.09] | 3.17 [3.05–3.29] | 0.02 |
| Outcomes, n (%) or mean [95%CI] | |||
| Intensive Care Admission | 17 (50%) | 27 (26%) | 0.01 |
| Intubation | 10 (29%) | 6 (6%) | 0.00 |
| Days of intubation | 12.9 [7.8–18.0] | 4.3 [1.1–7.4] | 0.02 |
| CRRT | 1 (3%) | 2 (2%) | 0.44 |
| Days hospitalized | 12.9 [9.4–16.3] | 8.0 [5.5–10.4] | 0.03 |
| Disch to home self-care | 14 (41%) | 69 (68%) | 0.01 |
| Disch with home health | 8 (24%) | 20 (20%) | 0.63 |
| Disch to rehabilitation | 3 (9%) | 8 (8%) | 1.00 |
| Disch to hospice | 3 (9%) | 3 (3%) | 0.16 |
| Patients re-hospitalized | 4 (11%) | 30 (29%) | 0.04 |
| Death | 6 (18%) | 3 (3%) | 0.01 |
*P value for Race was computed by merging "Caucasian" and "Other" race categories and comparing to “Black or African American”
†”Other” race includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and not reported
‡Pulmonary disease includes asthma or COPD
§RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; PMR, polymyalgia rheumatica; GCA, giant cell arteritis; IBD, irritable bowel disease; ILD, interstitial lung disease; MCTD, mixed connective tissue disease; bDMARDs, biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; csDMARDs, conventional synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs; tsDMARDs, targeted synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs