Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population, overall and according to the route of enrolment
| Primary care | Accident and emergency | Inpatient discharge | Overall | ||
| Total patients | 302 | 342 | 259 | 908 | |
| Female | 180 (59.6) | 205 (59.9) | 120 (46.3) | 508 (55.9) | |
| Median age (years) | 55 | 50 | 63 | 54 | |
| Ethnicity | White | 113 (37.4) | 160 (46.8) | 140 (54.1) | 415 (45.7) |
| Black, Asian and minority Ethnic | 82 (27.2) | 103 (30.1) | 59 (22.8) | 244 (26.9) | |
| Not recorded | 107 (35.4) | 79 (23.1) | 60 (23.2) | 249 (27.4) | |
| Overweight or obese | 108 (35.8) | 189 (55.3) | 160 (61.8) | 458 (50.4) | |
| Median oxygen saturations | 98 | 97 | 96 | 97 | |
| Clinical severity based on oxygen saturations | Mild (≥95%) | 278 (92.1) | 314 (91.8) | 175 (67.6) | 771 (84.9) |
| Moderate (93%–94%) | 17 (5.6) | 22 (6.4) | 42 (16.2) | 82 (9.0) | |
| Severe (≤92%) | 7 (2.3) | 6 (1.8) | 42 (16.2) | 55 (6.1) | |
| Clinical comorbidities (n) | 0 | 113 (37.4) | 161 (47.1) | 70 (27.0) | 346 (38.1) |
| 1 | 75 (24.8) | 105 (30.7) | 70 (27.0) | 252 (27.7) | |
| 2 | 42 (13.9) | 45 (13.2) | 44 (17.0) | 131 (14.4) | |
| 3+ | 72 (23.8) | 31 (9.1) | 75 (29.0) | 179 (19.7) | |
| Hypertension | 102 (33.8) | 65 (19.0) | 111 (42.9) | 278 (30.8) | |
| Depression | 86 (28.5) | 84 (24.6) | 72 (27.8) | 242 (26.8) | |
| Asthma | 75 (24.8) | 83 (24.3) | 49 (18.9) | 207 (22.9) | |
| Steroid use | 87 (28.8) | 62 (18.1) | 54 (20.8) | 203 (22.5) | |
| Diabetes mellitus | 56 (18.5) | 43 (12.6) | 63 (24.3) | 162 (17.9) | |
| Pregnancy | 37 (12.3) | 74 (21.6) | 23 (8.9) | 134 (14.8) | |
| Chronic heart disease | 43 (14.2) | 35 (10.2) | 55 (21.2) | 133 (14.7) | |
| Mild frailty | 41 (13.6) | 17 (5.0) | 42 (16.2) | 100 (11.1) | |
| Moderate frailty | 45 (14.9) | 8 (2.3) | 43 (16.6) | 96 (10.6) | |
| Chronic respiratory disease | 39 (12.9) | 17 (5.0) | 35 (13.5) | 91 (10.1) | |
| Chronic kidney disease | 32 (10.6) | 17 (5.0) | 41 (15.8) | 90 (10.0) | |
| Cancer | 32 (10.6) | 23 (6.7) | 23 (8.9) | 78 (8.6) | |
| Hypothyroidism | 29 (9.6) | 22 (6.4) | 17 (6.6) | 68 (7.5) | |
| Hypercholesterolaemia | 30 (9.9) | 14 (4.1) | 22 (8.5) | 66 (7.3) | |
| Chronic neurological disease | 28 (9.3) | 7 (2.0) | 25 (9.7) | 60 (6.6) | |
| Severe frailty | * | * | * | 53 (5.9) | |
| Stroke | * | * | * | 46 (5.1) | |
| Immunosuppression drug | 8 (2.6) | 12 (3.5) | 7 (2.7) | 27 (3.0) | |
| Dementia | * | * | * | 25 (2.8) | |
| Mental illness | 8 (2.6) | 6 (1.8) | 8 (3.1) | 22 (2.4) | |
| Epilepsy | * | * | * | 20 (2.2) | |
| Peripheral vascular disease | * | * | * | 13 (1.4) | |
| Autoimmune disease | * | * | * | 13 (1.4) | |
| Chronic liver disease | * | * | * | 9 (1.0) | |
| Learning disability | * | * | * | 6 (0.7) | |
Route of enrolment was missing for 5 of 908 patients. Comorbidity case numbers are shown with an asterisk (*) for routes of enrolment where one or more routes of enrolment involved 5 or fewer patients.