Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the entire cohort.
| Characteristic | All patients n = 1540 (100%) | Received corticosteroids n = 688 (45%) | Did not received corticosteroids n = 852 (55%) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male sex – no. (%)* | 941 (61) | 418 (61) | 523 (61) | .801 |
| Age, years – median (IQR) † | 54.5 (45–65) | 57 (47–68) | 52 (44–63) | <.0001 |
| Obesity – no. (%) n = 1537 |
681 (44) | 301 (44) n = 688 |
380 (45) n = 849 |
.692 |
| Diabetes mellitus – no. (%) n = 1539 |
440 (29) | 225 (33) n = 688 |
215 (25) n = 851 |
.001 |
| Hypertension – no. (%) n = 1359 |
528 (34) | 253 (37) n = 688 |
275 (32) n = 851 |
.067 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – no. (%)‡ n = 1539 |
22 (1) | 14 (2) n = 688 |
8 (1) n = 851 |
.085 |
| Immunosuppression – no. (%)‡ n = 1538 |
87 (6) | 36 (5) n = 687 |
51 (6) n = 851 |
.525 |
| Cardiovascular disease – no. (%)‡ n = 1538 |
86 (6) | 46 (7) n = 688 |
40 (5) n = 850 |
.095 |
| Chronic kidney disease – no. (%)‡ n = 1539 |
51 (3) | 23 (3) n = 688 |
28 (3) n = 851 |
1.000 |
| Smoker – no. (%) n = 1528 |
231 (15) | 111 (16) n = 687 |
120 (14) n = 841 |
.305 |
| Charlson score > 2 – no. (%) n = 1539 |
481 (31) | 256 (37) n = 688 |
225 (26) n = 851 |
<.001 |
| Time from symptom onset to admission, days – median (IQR) | 7 (5–10) | 7 (5–10) | 7 (6–10) | .027 |
| Oxygen saturation, % – median (IQR) n = 1510 |
84 (72–88) | 84 (74–87) n = 682 |
84 (70–88) n = 828 |
.0811 |
| Glucose, mg/dL – median (IQR) n = 857 |
129 (109–183) | 132 (111–191) n = 668 |
123 (106–175) n = 189 |
.0242 |
| Lymphocyte count, cells/µL – median (IQR) n = 1530 |
741 (524–1033) | 727 (525–1049) n = 684 |
750 (521–1029) n = 846 |
.7740 |
| C-reactive protein, mg/dL – median (IQR) n = 1498 |
14.7 (8.1–22.1) | 14.5 (8.2–21.2) n = 671 |
14.9 (7.8–22.9) n = 827 |
.3081 |
| Ferritin, ng/mL – median (IQR) n = 1487 |
573 (297–1001) | 534 (295–921) n = 668 |
616 (311–1069) n = 819 |
.0517 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase, U/L – median (IQR) n = 1482 |
361 (282–475) | 342 (266–433) n = 676 |
380 (298–506) n = 806 |
<.0001 |
| D-dimer, ng/mL – median (IQR) n = 1500 |
789 (496–1258) | 762 (488–1250) n = 678 |
822 (510–1264) n = 822 |
.1311 |
| SpO2/FiO2 ratio – median (IQR) n = 1492 |
199 (125–260) | 198 (131–259) n = 670 |
201 (118–262) n = 822 |
.2911 |
| Multilobe involvement in CT-Scan – no. (%) n = 1538 |
1530 (99) | 687 (100) n = 688 |
843 (99) n = 850 |
.082 |
| ICU admission upon arrival – no. (%) | 141 (9) | 59 (9) | 82 (10) | .478 |
| Use of mechanical ventilation during the first 24 h – no. (%) | 227 (15) | 119 (17) | 108 (13) | .011 |
| Empiric antibiotic treatment – no. (%) | 914 (59) | 210 (31) | 704 (83) | <.001 |
| Tocilizumab - no. (%)‡ | 97 (6) | 11 (2) | 86 (10) | <.001 |
| Participation in a clinical trial – no. (%) | 320 (21) | 196 (28) | 124 (15) | <.001 |
FiO2, fraction of inspired oxygen; ICU, intensive care unit; IQR, interquartile range.
*Unless otherwise specified, dichotomous variables were compared using χ2.
† Quantitative variables were compared using two-sample rank-sum tests.
‡ Dichotomous variables were compared using Fisher’s exact test.