Table 3.
Bivariate comparison of hospitalised versus non-hospitalised patients according to clinical characteristics, type of DMARD, rheumatic disease and COVID-19 symptoms
| Variable | Hospitalised (n=106) | Non-hospitalised (n=320) | P value |
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 61.8 (54.5–73.7) | 52.2 (42.8–61.1) | <0.001 |
| Sex (male), n (%) | 37 (35) | 96 (30) | 0.397 |
| Race, n (%) | 0.671 | ||
| Caucasian | 94 (89) | 288 (90) | |
| Latin American | 8 (7) | 25 (8) | |
| Other | 4 (4) | 7 (2) | |
| Tobacco, n (%) | 0.032 | ||
| Current smoker | 7 (7) | 44 (14) | |
| Former smoker | 34 (32) | 70 (22) | |
| Non-smoker | 65 (61) | 206 (64) | |
| BMI, mean±SD | 29.3±6.1 | 26.9±5.0 | 0.001 |
| ≥30 obesity, n (%) | 44 (41) | 89 (28) | 0.011 |
| Overweight/obesity, n (%) | 81 (76) | 203 (63) | 0.017 |
| COVID-19 diagnosis, n (%) | 0.001 | ||
| Confirmed cases | 87 (82) | 207 (65) | |
| Suspected cases | 19 (18) | 113 (35) | |
| Symptomatic COVID-19, n (%) | 106 (100) | 276 (86) | <0.001 |
| COVID-19 symptoms, n (%) | |||
| Fever | 92 (87) | 155 (48) | <0.001 |
| Cough | 82 (77) | 164 (51) | <0.001 |
| Headache | 23 (22) | 85 (27) | 0.368 |
| Sore throat | 9 (8) | 73 (23) | 0.001 |
| Dyspnoea | 70 (66) | 51 (16) | <0.001 |
| Arthralgia | 16 (15) | 60 (19) | 0.465 |
| Myalgia | 22 (21) | 74 (23) | 0.688 |
| Chest pain | 26 (25) | 27 (8) | <0.001 |
| Abdominal pain | 12 (11) | 15 (5) | 0.021 |
| Diarrhoea | 26 (24) | 62 (19) | 0.270 |
| Nausea/vomiting | 20 (19) | 24 (7) | 0.002 |
| Anosmia | 13 (12) | 69 (22) | 0.035 |
| Ageusia | 11 (10) | 58 (18) | 0.068 |
| Rhinorrhoea | 6 (6) | 35 (11) | 0.110 |
| Asthaenia | 48 (45) | 91 (28) | 0.002 |
| COVID-19 outcomes, n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Recovered without sequelae | 75 (71) | 311 (97) | |
| Recovered with sequelae | 13 (12) | 8 (2.5) | |
| Death | 18 (17) | 1 (0.3) | |
| ICU admission, n (%) | 21 (20) | – | <0.001 |
| Rheumatic disease | 0.003 | ||
| RA | 54 (51) | 100 (31) | |
| Spondyloarthropathies | 30 (28) | 135 (42) | |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 13 (12) | 48 (15) | |
| Other rheumatic diseases | 9 (9) | 37 (12) | |
| Disease duration (years), median (IQR) | 12.9 (6.9–19.8) | 10.4 (5.3–16.4) | 0.017 |
| Age (years) at the initiation of biologicals, median (IQR) | 54.9 (47.2–63.4) | 47.3 (37.5–54.7) | <0.001 |
| Time (years) from diagnosis to the first biological median (IQR) | 4.1 (1.1–9.3) | 3.1 (1.0–7.4) | 0.376 |
| Last available DAS-28 in patient with RA, mean±SD | 3.6±1.6 | 3.1±1.6 | 0.073 |
| Treatments | |||
| bDMARD, n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| TNF inhibitors | 27 (25) | 148 (46) | |
| IL-17-inhibitors | 5 (5) | 13 (4) | |
| IL-1-inhibitor | 2 (2) | – | |
| Anti-B cells | 10 (9) | 14 (4) | |
| Anti-CD20 | 9 (8) | 6 (2) | |
| Anti-BAFF | 1 (1) | 8 (2) | |
| IL-6 inhibitors | 4 (4) | 17 (5) | |
| Other (T cell activation inhibitor, IL-12/23 inhibitor, RNKL-RANK inhibitor) | 12 (11) | 15 (5) | |
| tsDMARD, n (%) | 0.783 | ||
| Apremilast (inh. PDE4) | 2 (2) | 5 (2) | |
| Baricitinib | 7 (7) | 15 (5) | |
| Tofacitinib | 5 (5) | 11 (3) | |
| csDMARD, n (%) | |||
| Methotrexate | 28 (26) | 69 (22) | 0.349 |
| Chloroquine | 10 (9) | 36 (11) | 0.719 |
| Others | 15 (14) | 39 (12) | 0.615 |
| Glucocorticoids, n (%) | 58 (55) | 93 (29) | <0.001 |
| Dose of glucocorticoids (prior to COVID-19), mean±SD | 6.0±3.4 | 6.6±5.2 | 0.561 |
| Dose of glucocorticoids ≥10 mg, n (%) | 9 (16) | 13 (14) | 0.816 |
| NSAIDs, n (%) | 26 (25) | 76 (24) | 0.896 |
| ACEI, n (%) | 15 (14) | 30 (9) | 0.201 |
| Comorbidity, n (%) | 70 (66) | 105 (33) | <0.001 |
| COPD | 11 (10) | 3 (1) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 23 (22) | 29 (9) | 0.001 |
| Hypertension | 52 (49) | 84 (26) | <0.001 |
| Neoplasm | 9 (9) | 9 (3) | 0.022 |
| Chronic liver disease | 9 (9) | 10 (3) | 0.029 |
| Renal failure | 7 (7) | 4 (1) | 0.007 |
ACEI, ACE inhibitors; bDMARD, biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; BMI, body mass index; COPD, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease; csDMARD, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; ICU, intensive care unit; IL, interleukin; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; TNF, tumour necrosis factor; tsDMARD, targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.