Table 1.
Characteristics of the COVID-19 patients who received the after-hours home-call service while awaiting hospitalization, according to the wave of the pandemic.
| Alpha Wave * (n = 55) | Delta Wave † (n = 273) | p | |
| Age, years, median (IQR) | 63 (49–81) | 47 (38–56.8) | <0.001 |
| Age group, years, n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| 0–17 | 0 | 2 (0.7) | |
| 18–64 | 28 (50.9) | 235 (86.4) | |
| 65–74 | 6 (10.9) | 16 (5.9) | |
| ≥75 | 21 (38.2) | 19 (7.0) | |
| Sex, n (%) | 0.31 | ||
| Male | 35 (63.6) | 193 (70.7) | |
| Female | 28 (36.4) | 80 (29.3) | |
| Body mass index, kg/m2, median (IQR) | 24.3 (22.2–27.7) | 24.2 (22.4–27.4) | 0.93 |
| Smoking status, n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Current smoker | 2 (3.6) | 63 (23.1) | |
| Ex-smoker | 11 (20.0) | 7 (2.6) | |
| Never smoked | 32 (58.2) | 113 (41.4) | |
| Unknown | 10 (18.2) | 90 (33.0) | |
| Alcohol consumption, n (%) | <0.001 | ||
| Daily | 9 (16.4) | 64 (23.4) | |
| Occasional | 8 (14.6) | 51 (18.7) | |
| None | 30 (54.6) | 62 (22.7) | |
| Unknown | 8 (14.6) | 96 (35.2) | |
| Comorbidities, n (%) | |||
| Hypertension | 25 (45.5) | 31 (11.4) | <0.001 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 2 (3.6) | 12 (4.4) | 0.80 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 8 (14.6) | 18 (6.6) | 0.06 |
| Cardiac disease | 10 (18.2) | 10 (3.7) | <0.001 |
| Cerebral infarction | 6 (10.9) | 4 (1.5) | 0.002 |
| Liver disease | 1 (1.8) | 3 (1.1) | 0.52 |
| Chronic lung disease | 1 (1.8) | 0 | 0.17 |
| Cancer | 6 (10.9) | 8 (2.9) | 0.02 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 2 (3.6) | 2 (0.7) | 0.13 |
| Dementia | 4 (7.3) | 0 | <0.001 |
| Days from symptom onset to the consultation, median (IQR) | 6 (2.5–9) | 7 (5–9) | 0.02 |
| Hospital admission, n (%) | 36 (65.5) | 192 (70.3) | 0.48 |
| Days from consultation to hospital admission, median (IQR) | 2.5 (1.3–6.5) | 3 (2–5) | 0.77 |
| COVID-19 severity | 0.71 | ||
| Moderate I | 15 (27.3) | 68 (24.9) | |
| Moderate II | 40 (72.7) | 205 (75.1) | |
| Death, n (%) | 10 (18.2) | 4 (1.5) | <0.001 |
| Death by age group, years, n (%) | |||
| 0–17 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18–64 | 4 (7.3) | 4 (1.5) | |
| 65–74 | 1 (1.8) | 0 | |
| ≥75 | 5 (9.1) | 0 |
* The Alpha wave occurred between March 2022 and June 2022. † The Delta wave lasted from July 2021 until December 2021. IQR—interquartile range; COVID-19—coronavirus disease 2019.