Objectives
The presence of COVID-19 was first confirmed in Germany in January 2020 and ICD-10-GM codes for COVID-19 were introduced in February 2020. We used claims data from AOK PLUS, a large regional sickness fund covering around half the population in Saxony and Thuringia (6.2 million inhabitants), to describe the COVID-19 patient population during the beginning of the pandemic.
Methods
Using data from 01/01/2020 to 30/06/2020, inpatient and outpatient cases of COVID-19 were identified using ICD-10-GM code U07.1. All inpatient cases with code U07.1 in any position were included. Two-sample t-tests and chi-square tests were used to compare patient populations.
Results
A total of 15,596 COVID-19 patients (≈0.25% sickness fund population) were identified (93.4% outpatient, 6.6% inpatient; 58.7% female, 41.3% male). The mean age was 44.9 (age <18: 7.2%, 18-44: 45.9%, 45-64: 31.4%, >65: 15.5%). There were 188 in-hospital deaths (18.2%), of which 65 (34.6%) received ICU treatment and 58 (30.9%) received intubation. Of the inpatient cases, there were 148 ICU cases (14.3%, 65 deaths) and 98 intubations (9.5%, 58 deaths). There was a larger proportion of females in outpatient (59.6%) vs. inpatient cases (52.8%, p<0.001). Inpatients were significantly older than outpatients (71.0 vs. 43.0, p<0.001) and in-hospital deaths were significantly older than non-fatal inpatient cases (81.3 vs. 68.7, p<0.001). Mean length of stay was significantly longer for patients in the ICU (25.4 days) vs. normal ward (12.3, p<0.001). Of the inpatient cases, the most frequent main diagnoses associated with COVID-19 were respiratory system diseases (codes J00-J99, 620 cases, 59.9%), of which the most prevalent diagnosis was “Other viral pneumonia” (code J12.8, 435 cases).
Conclusions
While our data came from only two regions in Germany, claims data can be used to gain insight on the characteristics and evolution of the COVID-19 population, and to accurately estimate HCRU/costs and mortality.