Table 1.
Characteristics of survivors by treatment group
| No./total No. (%) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| With GC therapy | P* (IFN + GC vs GC) | No GC therapy | P* (IFN vs no IFN/GC) | P* (All 4 groups) | |||
| Early IFN (n = 116) | No early IFN (n = 84) | Early IFN (n = 87) | No early IFN (n = 87) | ||||
| Demographic characteristics | |||||||
| Female sex | 49 (42.2) | 45 (53.6) | 0.118 | 38 (43.7) | 41 (47.1) | 0.761 | 0.420 |
| Age, years, median (IQR) | 51 (42.5–58.5) | 51 (42.5–62.5) | 0.750 | 48 (34–54) | 47 (35–56) | 0.989 | 0.016 |
| >60 | 26 (22.4) | 23 (27.4) | 0.506 | 9 (10.3) | 17 (19.5) | 0.136 | 0.039 |
| Hypertension | 30 (25.9) | 19 (22.6) | 0.622 | 13 (14.9) | 11 (12.6) | 0.826 | 0.064 |
| Diabetes | 14 (12.1) | 8 (9.5) | 0.651 | 1 (1.1) | 3 (3.4) | 0.621 | 0.008 |
| High-risk exposure | 64 (55.2) | 55 (65.5) | 0.148 | 59 (67.8) | 43 (49.4) | 0.021 | 0.041 |
| Clinical features (Within 24 h of admission) | |||||||
| Symptom onset to hospital admission, days, median (IQR) [No.] | 6 (4–8) | 6 (4–9) | 0.862 | 6 (4–9) [86] | 6 (4–8) [85] | 0.572 | 0.901 |
| >7 days | 34 (29.3) | 25 (29.8) | 1.00 | 27 (31) | 22 (25.3) | 0.500 | 0.853 |
| Abnormal CT findings | 116 (100) | 84 (100) | / | 86 (98.9) | 85 (97.7) | 1.00 | 0.241 |
| Respiratory rate (RR) > 22/min | 21 (18.1) | 16 (19) | 0.856 | 9 (10.3) | 9 (10.3) | 1.00 | 0.174 |
| O2 saturation (O2ST), % | |||||||
| >93 | 73 (62.9) | 54 (64.3) | 0.329 | 84 (96.6) | 75 (86.2) | 0.048 | <0.001 |
| 90–93 | 34 (29.3) | 19 (22.6) | 3 (3.4) | 11 (12.6) | |||
| <90 | 9 (7.8) | 11 (13.1) | 0 (0) | 1 (1.1) | |||
| Fever | 98 (84.5) | 75 (89.3) | 0.404 | 71 (81.6) | 71 (81.6) | 1.00 | 0.472 |
| Symptom counta | |||||||
| 1 | 23 (19.8) | 27 (32.1) | 0.019 | 26 (29.9) | 31 (35.6) | 0.672 | 0.091 |
| 2 | 65 (56) | 49 (58.3) | 47 (54) | 45 (51.7) | |||
| 3 | 23 (19.8) | 8 (9.5) | 13 (14.9) | 9 (10.3) | |||
| 4 or more | 5 (4.3) | 0 (0) | 1 (1.1) | 2 (2.3) | |||
| Lymphopenia (<1.1×109/L) | 62 (62.6) [99] | 28 (54.9) [51] | 0.383 | 22 (31) [71] | 23 (35.4) [65] | 0.715 | <0.001 |
| Eosinopenia (<0.02×109/L) | 80 (81.6) [98] | 34 (68) [50] | 0.067 | 36 (52.2) [69] | 31 (49.2) [63] | 0.862 | <0.001 |
| Severity category at admissionb | |||||||
| Moderate | 73 (62.9) | 54 (64.3) | 0.408 | 84 (96.6) | 75 (86.2) | 0.015 | <0.001 |
| Severe | 41 (35.3) | 26 (40.0) | 3 (3.4) | 12 (13.8) | |||
| Critical | 2 (1.7) | 4 (4.8) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |||
| Treatments | |||||||
| Time from admission to first dose of GC, days, median (IQR) | 2 (1–4) | 4 (2–6) | <0.001 | / | / | / | / |
| Within 5 days | 110 (94.8) | 60 (71.4) | <0.001 | / | / | / | / |
| Time from symptom onset to first dose of GC, days, median (IQR) | 9 (6.5–11) | 11 (8–14) | 0.001 | / | / | / | / |
| Duration of GC treatment, days, median (IQR) | 4 (3–7) | 4 (3–6) | 0.319 | / | / | / | / |
| Peak daily GC dose (methylprednisolone-equivalent, mg) | |||||||
| 40 mg or lower | 52 (44.8) | 39 (46.4) | 0.478 | / | / | / | / |
| 80 mg | 62 (53.4) | 45 (53.6) | / | / | |||
| 160 mg or higher | 2 (1.7) | 0 (0) | / | / | |||
| Cumulative dose of GC (methylprednisolone-equivalent, mg), median (IQR) | 220 (120–400) | 220 (120–360) | 0.393 | / | / | / | / |
| 320 or less | 80 (69) | 61 (72.6) | 0.639 | / | / | / | / |
| 800 or less | 113 (97.4) | 83 (98.8) | 0.641 | / | / | / | / |
| Time from admission to first dose of IFN, days, median (IQR) [No.] | 2 (1–3) [116] | 10.5 (7–16) [16] | <0.001 | 2 (1–2) [87] | 7.5 (7–8) [4] | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Duration of IFN therapy, days, median (IQR) [No.] | 11 (8–14) [116] | 9 (5.5–12) [16] | 0.094 | 9 (7–12) [87] | 8 (6.5–10) [4] | 0.404 | 0.024 |
| Lopinavir/ritonavir | 39 (33.6) | 49 (58.3) | 0.001 | 32 (36.8) | 43 (49.4) | 0.126 | 0.002 |
| Umifenovir | 72 (62.1) | 37 (44) | 0.014 | 52 (59.8) | 42 (48.3) | 0.171 | 0.034 |
| Oseltamivir | 9 (7.8) | 33 (39.3) | <0.001 | 14 (16.1) | 18 (20.7) | 0.558 | <0.001 |
| Human immune globulins | 11 (9.5) | 13 (15.5) | 0.270 | 3 (3.4) | 2 (2.3) | 1.00 | 0.004 |
| Antibiotics | 106 (91.4) | 67 (79.8) | 0.021 | 65 (74.7) | 66 (75.9) | 1.00 | 0.007 |
| Overall | |||||||
| Length of hospital stay, days, median (IQR) | 19 (15.5–26.5) | 25.5 (22–31.5) | <0.001 | 18 (15–25) | 17 (12.5–22) | 0.092 | <0.001 |
| Time from admission to symptom relief, days, median (IQR) | 12 (9–16) | 14.5 (11–20) | <0.001 | 11 (9–14) | 10 (7–14.5) | 0.101 | <0.001 |
| Time from symptom onset to hospital discharge, days, median (IQR) [No.] | 27 (22–34) | 33 (25.5–39) | <0.001 | 25 (22–31) [86] | 24 (19.5–30) [85] | 0.171 | <0.001 |
| Retrospective severity categoryb | |||||||
| Moderate | 69 (59.5) | 60 (71.4) | 0.203 | 84 (96.6) | 79 (90.8) | 0.295 | <0.001 |
| Severe | 27 (23.3) | 15 (17.9) | 2 (2.3) | 5 (5.7) | |||
| Critical | 20 (17.2) | 9 (10.7) | 1 (1.1) | 3 (3.4) | |||
| Mechanical ventilation | 6 (5.2) | 5 (6) | 1.00 | 0 (0) | 2 (2.3) | 0.497 | 0.111 |
| Prolonged viral shedding after symptom relief | 13 (11.2) | 33 (39.3) | <0.001 | 21 (24.1) | 12 (13.8) | 0.121 | <0.001 |
GC glucocorticoids, IFN interferons, IQR inter quartile range, CT computed tomography
*P-values were calculated by Fisher’s exact test or Chi-square test for categorical variables, Mann–Whitney or Kruskal–Wallis tests for continuous variables
aSymptoms include fever, cough, throat discomfort, shortness of breath or chest discomfort, muscle weakness or pain, diarrhea, and headache
bSeverity was retrospectively determined according to the national guideline: moderate disease has fever, respiratory symptoms and positive CT findings; severe disease has additionally RR > = 30, O2ST < = 93%, or partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2)/fraction of inspired oxygen(FiO2) <=300 mmHg; critical disease has additionally shock, respiratory distress requiring mechanical ventilation, or ICU admission