Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| Azithromycin (n=2582) | Usual care (n=5181) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 65·4 (15·6) | 65·2 (15·7) | |
| <70* | 1508 (58%) | 3014 (58%) | |
| ≥70 to <80 | 615 (24%) | 1167 (23%) | |
| ≥80 | 459 (18%) | 1000 (19%) | |
| Sex | |||
| Men | 1604 (62%) | 3215 (62%) | |
| Women† | 978 (38%) | 1966 (38%) | |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White | 1961 (76%) | 3978 (77%) | |
| Black, Asian, and minority ethnic | 372 (14%) | 737 (14%) | |
| Unknown | 249 (10%) | 466 (9%) | |
| Number of days since symptom onset | 8 (5–11) | 8 (5–11) | |
| Number of days since admission to hospital | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–4) | |
| Respiratory support received | |||
| No oxygen received | 490 (19%) | 918 (18%) | |
| Oxygen only‡ | 1940 (75%) | 3963 (76%) | |
| Invasive mechanical ventilation | 152 (6%) | 300 (6%) | |
| Previous diseases | |||
| Diabetes | 700 (27%) | 1433 (28%) | |
| Heart disease | 693 (27%) | 1350 (26%) | |
| Chronic lung disease | 621 (24%) | 1313 (25%) | |
| Tuberculosis | 3 (<1%) | 16 (<1%) | |
| HIV | 7 (<1%) | 22 (<1%) | |
| Severe liver disease§ | 45 (2%) | 65 (1%) | |
| Severe kidney impairment¶ | 155 (6%) | 334 (6%) | |
| Any of the above | 1507 (58%) | 3013 (58%) | |
| Use of corticosteroids | |||
| Yes | 1567 (61%) | 3171 (61%) | |
| No | 182 (7%) | 397 (8%) | |
| Not asked or missing‖ | 833 (32%) | 1613 (31%) | |
| SARS-CoV-2 test result | |||
| Positive | 2350 (91%) | 4743 (92%) | |
| Negative | 202 (8%) | 386 (7%) | |
| Unknown | 30 (1%) | 52 (1%) | |
Data are mean (SD), n (%), or median (IQR). SARS-CoV-2=severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
*
Includes 26 children (<18 years).
†
Includes 25 pregnant women.
‡
Includes non-invasive ventilation.
§
Defined as requiring ongoing specialist care.
¶
Defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min per 1·73 m2.
‖
Information on use of corticosteroids was collected from June 18, 2020, onwards, following announcement of the results of the dexamethasone comparison from the RECOVERY trial.