Table 1.
Patient characteristics by corticosteroid treatment in the entire cohort and in the matched cohort
| Unmatched (Entire) Cohort b | Matched Cohort b | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics a,c | Corticosteroid | Non-Corticosteroid | stddiff | Corticosteroid | Non-Corticosteroid | stddiff | |
| n | 615 | 846 | 385 | 385 | |||
| Age, years | |||||||
| 18–50- | 111 (18.1) | 238 (28.1) | 0.29 | 80 (20.8) | 82 (21.3) | 0.03 | |
| 50–65- | 210 (34.1) | 252 (29.8) | 118 (30.6) | 121 (31.4) | |||
| 65–80- | 214 (34.8) | 224 (26.5) | 120 (31.2) | 116 (30.1) | |||
| ≥ 80 | 80 (13.0) | 132 (15.6) | 67 (17.4) | 66 (17.1) | |||
| Gender | |||||||
| Male | 352 (57.2) | 418 (49.4) | − 0.16 | 201 (52.2) | 200 (52.0) | -0.01 | |
| Female | 263 (42.8) | 428 (50.6) | 184 (47.8) | 185 (48.0) | |||
| Race | |||||||
| Black/African American | 389 (63.3) | 532 (62.9) | 0.08 | 228 (59.2) | 239 (62.1) | 0.07 | |
| White/Caucasian | 173 (28.1) | 258 (30.5) | 129 (33.5) | 119 (30.9) | |||
| Other | 53 (8.6) | 56 (6.6) | 28 (7.3) | 27 (7.0) | |||
| BMI, kg/m2 | |||||||
| < 30 | 252 (41.0) | 360 (42.6) | 0.03 | 156 (40.5) | 156 (40.5) | 0.00 | |
| ≥ 30 | 363 (59.0) | 486 (57.4) | 229 (59.5) | 229 (59.5) | |||
| Comorbidity | |||||||
| Myocardial Infarction | 85 (13.8) | 71 (8.4) | 0.17 | 49 (12.7) | 39 (10.1) | 0.08 | |
| Diabetes Mellitus | 198 (32.2) | 236 (27.9) | 0.09 | 123 (31.9) | 115 (29.9) | 0.04 | |
| Hypertension | 352 (57.2) | 399 (47.2) | 0.20 | 205 (53.2) | 200 (52.0) | 0.03 | |
| Charlson weighted score (disease only) |
3.2 ± 2.4 3.0 (1.0, 5.0) |
2.7 ± 2.4 2.0 (1.0, 4.0) |
0.20 |
3.3 ± 2.5 3.0 (1.0, 5.0) |
3.1 ± 2.4 3.0 (1.0, 4.0) |
0.06 | |
| Number of ED visits prior to 6 months |
0.4 ± 1.0 0.0 (0.0, 1.0) |
0.4 ± 1.0 0.0 (0.0, 0.0) |
0.03 |
0.5 ± 1.0 0.0 (0.0, 1.0) |
0.4 ± 1.0 0.0 (0.0, 0.0) |
0.06 | |
| Initial Vital Signs | |||||||
| Systolic blood pressure, mmHg |
131.2 ± 20.7 129.0 (118.0, 142.0) |
131.4 ± 19.7 130.0 (118.0, 143.0)) |
-0.02 |
131.5 ± 20.4 130.0 (120.0, 140.0) |
132.4 ± 18.9 132.0 (120.0, 143.0) |
− 0.06 | |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg |
72.4 ± 11.6 72.0 (64.0, 80.0) |
73.6 ± 12.3 73.0 (66.0, 82.0) |
-0.09 |
72.8 ± 11.7 73.0 (64.0, 81.0) |
73.0 ± 11.7 72.0 (65.0, 80.0) |
0.00 | |
| Pulse, beats per minute |
92.0 ± 15.7 92.0 (81.0, 102.0) |
89.8 ± 14.7 90.0 (79.0, 100.0) |
0.12 |
90.4 ± 15.7 90.0 (79.0, 100.0) |
91.2 ± 13.8 91.0 (81.0, 101.0) |
-0.08 | |
| Temperature, ℉ |
100.4 ± 1.6 100.3 (99.0, 101.8) |
100.3 ± 1.6 100.2 (99.0, 101.5) |
0.05 |
100.3 ± 1.7 100.2 (98.9, 101.7) |
100.3 ± 1.7 100.2 (99.0, 101.7) |
0.00 | |
| Respiratory rate, breaths per minute | |||||||
| < 24 | 360 (58.5) | 613 (72.5) | 0.30 | 248 (64.4) | 252 (65.5) | 0.02 | |
| ≥ 24 | 255 (41.5) | 233 (27.5) | 137 (35.6) | 133 (34.5) | |||
| Blood oxygen saturation, % | |||||||
| ≤ 88 | 266 (43.2) | 167 (19.7) | 0.56 | 121 (31.4) | 118 (30.6) | 0.07 | |
| 88 + to 94- | 207 (33.7) | 316 (37.4) | 148 (38.4) | 157 (40.8) | |||
| ≥ 94 | 142 (23.1) | 363 (42.9) | 116 (30.1) | 110 (28.6) | |||
| Medications | |||||||
| Hydroxychloroquine | 573 (93.2) | 500 (59.1) | 0.87 | 343 (89.1) | 339 (88.1) | 0.03 | |
| Azithromycin | 589 (95.8) | 623 (73.6) | 0.65 | 360 (93.5) | 358 (93.0) | 0.02 | |
| Vitamin C | 276 (44.9) | 131 (15.5) | 0.68 | 121 (31.4) | 114 (29.6) | 0.04 | |
| Zinc | 248 (40.3) | 124 (14.7) | 0.60 | 111 (28.8) | 102 (26.5) | 0.05 | |
| ACE inhibitors/ARB/sartanics | 127 (20.6) | 174 (20.6) | 0.00 | 85 (22.1) | 87 (22.6) | − 0.01 | |
| Initial laboratory tests | |||||||
| White blood cell count × 109/L | |||||||
| < 4 | 65 (10.6) | 118 (13.9) | 0.16 | 51 (13.2) | 46 (11.9) | 0.03 | |
| 4 to 10 | 443 (72.0) | 625 (73.9) | 276 (71.7) | 281 (73.0) | |||
| > 10 | 107 (17.4) | 103 (12.2) | 58 (15.1) | 58 (15.1) | |||
| Lymphocyte count × 109/L | |||||||
| < 0.8 | 212 (34.5) | 257 (30.4) | 0.09 | 126 (32.7) | 128 (33.2) | − 0.01 | |
| ≥ 0.8 | 403 (65.5) | 589 (69.6) | 259 (67.3) | 257 (66.8) | |||
| Hemoglobin, g/dL | |||||||
| ≤ 11 | 92(15.0) | 146 (17.3) | − 0.06 | 76 (19.7) | 68 (17.7) | 0.05 | |
| > 11 | 523 (85.0) | 700 (82.7) | 309 (80.3) | 317 (82.3) | |||
| ALT, U/L | |||||||
| ≤ 40 | 406 (66.0) | 575 (68.0) | − 0.04 | 255 (66.2) | 260 (67.5) | − 0.03 | |
| > 40 | 209 (34.0) | 271 (32.0) | 130 (33.8) | 125 (32.5) | |||
| Creatinine, mg/dL | |||||||
| ≤ 1.33 | 350 (56.9) | 553 (65.4) | − 0.17 | 236 (61.3) | 235 (61.0) | 0.01 | |
| > 1.33 | 265 (43.1) | 293 (34.6) | 149 (38.7) | 150 (39.0) | |||
| Lactate dehydrogenase, U/L | |||||||
| ≤ 245 | 51 (8.3) | 155 (18.3) | − 0.30 | 46 (11.9) | 38 (9.9) | 0.07 | |
| > 245 | 564 (91.7) | 691 (81.7) | 339 (88.1) | 347 (90.1) | |||
| D-dimer, ng/mL FEU | |||||||
| ≤ 500 | 93 (15.1) | 189 (22.3) | 0.24 | 69 (17.9) | 76 (19.7) | 0.06 | |
| 500–1000 | 179 (29.1) | 279 (33.0) | 122 (31.7) | 116 (30.1) | |||
| > 1,000 | 343 (55.8) | 378 (44.7) | 194 (50.4) | 193 (50.1) | |||
| Procalcitonin, ng/mL | |||||||
| < 0.1 | 164 (26.7) | 372 (44.0) | 0.39 | 128 (33.3) | 123 (31.9) | 0.06 | |
| 0.1–0.25 | 181 (29.4) | 231 (27.3) | 114 (29.6) | 110 (28.6) | |||
| 0.25–0.5 | 108 (17.6) | 91 (10.8) | 52 (13.5) | 60 (15.6) | |||
| > 0.5 | 162 (26.3) | 152 (18.0) | 91 (23.6) | 92 (23.9) | |||
| C-reactive protein, mg/L | |||||||
| < 50 | 100 (16.3) | 241 (28.5) | 0.42 | 78 (20.3) | 80 (20.8) | 0.03 | |
| 50–100 | 138 (22.4) | 251 (29.7) | 101 (26.2) | 102 (26.5) | |||
| > 100 | 377 (61.3) | 354 (41.8) | 206 (53.5) | 203 (52.7) | |||
| Lactic acid, mmol/L | |||||||
| < 2 | 460 (74.8) | 674 (79.7) | − 0.12 | 301 (78.2) | 298 (77.4) | 0.02 | |
| ≥ 2 | 155 (25.2) | 172 (20.3) | 84 (21.8) | 87 (22.6) | |||
BMI body mass index, ALT alanine aminotransferase, ACE angiotensin-converting enzyme, ARB angiotensin II receptor blocker, stddif standardized difference
aFor continuous variables, means ± standard deviations and medians (interquartile ranges, IQRs) were presented. For categorical variables, frequencies and percentages within parentheses were presented
bThe standardized difference of clinical characteristics was less than 10% to indicate the balance on corticosteroid and non-corticosteroid groups
cMissing data on BMI, vital signs, and laboratory tests were imputed for the entire cohort analysis and the propensity score matching analysis. Descriptive results from one of the imputed datasets were shown