Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients enrolled in the study
| Characteristic | All patients (N = 324) |
COVID (N = 9) |
Healthy (N = 271) |
COVID-like (N = 44) |
Global (P-value)a | COVID vs. healthy (P-value)a | COVID vs. COVID-like (P-value)a | COVID-like vs. healthy (P-value)a |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female sex | 234 (72%) | 7 (78%) | 194 (72%) | 33 (75%) | 0.92 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.72 |
| Age at diagnosis of CD (years) | 31 ± 17 | 27 ± 13 | 33 ± 17 | 29 ± 19 | 0.35 | 0.29 | 0.69 | 0.29 |
| Age at enrolment (years) | 41 ± 15 | 35 ± 12 | 42 ± 16 | 41 ± 17 | 0.35 | 0.18 | 0.45 | 0.47 |
| Test for SARS-CoV-2 | 24 (7%) | 9 (100%) | 11 (4%) | 4 (9%) | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.14 |
| Patients living in Lombardy | 280 (86%) | 9 (100%) | 232 (86%) | 39 (89%) | 0.44 | 0.61 | 0.57 | 0.81 |
| Final diagnosis | 0.91 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||||
| Coeliac disease | 297 (92%) | 9 (100%) | 247 (91%) | 41 (93%) | ||||
| Potential coeliac disease | 20 (6%) | 0 | 17 (6%) | 3 (7%) | ||||
| Refractory coeliac disease | 4 (1%) | 0 | 4 (1.5%) | 0 | ||||
| Seronegative CD | 3 (1%) | 0 | 3 (1.5%) | 0 | ||||
| Oslo type of CD [6] | 0.12 | 0.07 | 0.1 | 0.63 | ||||
| Classical | 203 (63%) | 3 (33%) | 171 (63%) | 29 (66%) | ||||
| Non classical | 95 (29%) | 6 (67%) | 76 (28%) | 13 (29%) | ||||
| Silent | 26 (8%) | 0 | 24 (9%) | 2 (5%) | ||||
| Follow up biopsy | 0.65 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.46 | ||||
| Not performed | 130 (40%) | 4 (44%) | 105 (39%) | 21 (48%) | ||||
| Persistence of VA (>Marsh 3a) | 7 (2%) | 0 | 7 (2%) | 0 | ||||
| Resolution of VA (Marsh 0–2) | 187 (58%) | 5 (56%) | 159 (59%) | 23 (52%) | ||||
| Adherence to a GFD [28] | 0.78 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.33 | ||||
| Adherent | 306 (95%) | 9 (100%) | 257 (95%) | 40 (91%) | 0.31 | 0.79 | 0.45 | 0.13 |
| Not adherent | 10 (3%) | 0 | 8 (3%) | 2(4.5%) | ||||
| Not evaluable/available | 8 (2%) | 0 | 6 (2%) | 2 (4.5%) | ||||
| Time on a GFD, months (IQR) | 95 (50.5–182) | 95 (36–179) | 86 (44–179) | 113.5 (70–197.5) | ||||
| Death | 1 (0.3%) | 0 | 0 | 1 (2.3%) | 0.16 | - | 1.00 | 0.14 |
Values are expressed in number (%), median (IQR) or mean ± SD.
CD, coeliac disease; GFD, gluten-free diet; IQR, interquartile range; VA, villous atrophy.
a
Categorical data were compared among groups using Fisher’s exact test, meanwhile continuous variables were compared using Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis of variance. P-values less than 0.05 are significant.