Table 4.
Secondary outcomes.
| Overall | Score of 7-point ordinal scale on Day 1 (baseline) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| Corticosteroid | Non-corticosteroid | Corticosteroid | Non-corticosteroid | Corticosteroid | Non-corticosteroid | Corticosteroid | Non-corticosteroid | |
| (N = 118) | (N = 118) | (N = 15) | (N = 9) | (N = 53) | (N = 60) | (N = 48) | (N = 46) | |
| Time to PCR negativity of the swab solution | ||||||||
| Median [IQR]—days | 19 [10, 24] | 18 [12, 24] | 21 [15, 26] | 46 [23, –] | 21 [15, 27] | 19 [13, 28] | 13 [8, 23] | 16 [11, 20] |
| Hazard ratio (95%CI) | 1.091 (0.828–1.437) | 3.008 (0.948–9.543) | 0.908 (0.608–1.356) | 1.146 (0.743–1.766) | ||||
| p-value | 0.535 | 0.062 | 0.637 | 0.538 | ||||
| Duration of fever | ||||||||
| Median [IQR]—days | 8.5 [4, 16] | 6 [4, 12] | 7.5 [5, 28] | 9.5 [3.5, 18.5] | 7.5 [4, 14] | 9 [5, 20] | 10 [6, 30] | 5 [3, 7] |
| Hazard ratio (95%CI) | 0.746 (0.560–0.994) | 0.765 (0.289–2.022) | 1.231 (0.823–1.843) | 0.251 (0.147–0.428) | ||||
| p-value | 0.045 | 0.589 | 0.312 | < 0.001 | ||||
| Improvement in radiological findings—No. (%) | 103 (87.3) | 90 (76.3) | 12 (80.0) | 6 (66.7) | 45 (84.9) | 42 (70.0) | 44 (91.7) | 39 (84.8) |
| Time to improvement in radiological findings | ||||||||
| Median [IQR]—days | 8 [5, 18] | 14 [9, 29] | 6.5 [4, 12] | 26 [15, 61] | 10 [6, 23] | 14 [10, 36] | 7 [5, 13] | 11 [7, 22] |
| Hazard ratio (95%CI) | 1.758 (1.323–2.337) | 3.812 (1.285–11.303) | 1.541 (1.012–2.349) | 1.86 (1.193–2.901) | ||||
| p-value | < 0.001 | 0.016 | 0.044 | 0.006 | ||||
| Invasive mechanical ventilation—No. (%) | 40 (33.9) | 21 (17.8) | 11 (73.3) | 9 (100) | 23 (43.4) | 12 (20) | 5 (10.4) | 0 |
| Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation—No. (%) | 7 (5.9) | 7 (5.9) | 1 (6.7) | 2 (22.2) | 5 (9.4) | 5 (8.3) | 1 (2.1) | 0 |
| Duration of invasive mechanical ventilation | ||||||||
| Median [IQR]—days | 10 [8, 18] | 17 [10, 26] | 8 [6, 12] | 12 [6, 17] | 10 [9, 25] | 20.5 [12, 31] | ||
| Hazard ratio (95%CI) | 1.466 (0.841–2.554) | 1.808 (0.691–4.730) | 1.642 (0.773–3.489) | – | ||||
| p-value | 0.177 | 0.227 | 0.197 | – | ||||
| Hospitalization period | ||||||||
| Median [IQR]—days | 24 [15, 34] | 21 [14, 29] | 27 [20, 33] | 27 [26, 34] | 30 [20, 47] | 23 [17, 37] | 16.5 [11, 26] | 16.5 [12, 24] |
| Hazard ratio (95%CI) | 0.861 (0.659–1.125) | 1.623 (0.649–4.054) | 0.789 (0.530–1.176) | 0.797 (0.523–1.216) | ||||
| p-value | 0.272 | 0.300 | 0.244 | 0.293 | ||||
| Mortality—No. (%) | ||||||||
| On day 14 | 7 (5.9) | 3 (2.5) | 2 (13.3) | 0 | 3 (5.7) | 3 (5.0) | 2 (4.2) | 0 |
| p-value | 0.333 | 0.511 | 1.000 | 0.495 | ||||
| On day 28 | 12 (10.2) | 5 (4.2) | 3 (20.0) | 1 (11.1) | 6 (11.3) | 4 (6.7) | 3 (6.3) | 0 |
| p-value | 0.129 | 1.000 | 0.512 | 0.242 | ||||
| During the entire observation period | 14 (11.9) | 5 (4.2) | 3 (20.0) | 1 (11.1) | 7 (13.2) | 4 (6.7) | 4 (8.3) | 0 |
| Survival period | ||||||||
| Hazard ratio (95%CI) | 2.417 (0.868–6.733) | 1.900 (0.198–18.273) | 1.744 (0.509–5.969) | – | ||||
| p-value | 0.091 | 0.578 | 0.376 | 0 | ||||
Because only a few patients had a baseline 7-point ordinal score of 3, the patients with a baseline score of 2 and 3 were combined for the analysis. Categorical variables were presented as numbers (%). IQR, interquartile ranges; CI, confidence interval; PCR, polymerase chain reaction.