Clinical features and their association with death in a large cohort of adult inpatients with COVID-19

Objective: To determine the clinical features and their association with death in a large cohort of adult inpatients with COVID-19. Material and Methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients admitted by COVID-19 to the Almenara General Hospital in Lima, Peru, between March and May 2020. Clinical features on admission were evaluated according to death in bivariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Results: A total of 533 patients were included (23% women; 55% over 60 years-old; 27% death). Those who died had significantly higher proportions of patients over 60 years, pre-existing diseases, and severe/critical illness compared to alive patients: 73% vs. 44%, p<0.001; 68% vs. 57%, p=0.021; and 46%/34% vs. 28%/16%, p<0.001, respectively. Inbivariate analyses age over 60 years (uHR 2.49, 95%CI: 1.83-3.39), atrial fibrillation (uHR 2.09, 95%CI: 1.03-4.24) and hypothyroidism (uHR 2.75, 95%CI: 1.02-7.45) were associated with death. While in the multivariate analyses age over 60 years (aHR 2.53, 95%CI: 1.81-3.53), obesity (aHR 2.43, 95%CI: 1.44-4.07), chronic renal disease (aHR 2.65, 95%CI: 1.21-5.82) and hypothyroidism (aHR 4.22, 95%CI: 1.47-12.1) were independently associated with higher risk of death. Conclusions: During the first two months of the epidemic, patients admitted by COVID-19 at the Almenara General Hospital were more frequently older men and had a relevant pre-existing disease burden, as well as severe and critical illness. Mortality was high and was associated with older age, obesity, chronic renal disease, and hypothyroidism.