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Table 1 Characteristics of ICU patients with SARF and suspicion for COVID-19, stratified by the clinical-radiological criteria

From: Diagnostic accuracy of a set of clinical and radiological criteria for screening of COVID-19 using RT-PCR as the reference standard

Characteristics

Total

(n = 1009)

Strong Suspicion

(n = 679)

Weak Suspicion

(n = 330)

p value

Age (years)—mean (SD)

63.4 (17.5)

61.5 (16.5)

67.1 (18.2)

 ≤ 0.001f

Male sex—n (%)

554 (54.9)

392 (57.7)

162 (49.1)

0.010g

Clinical condition at ICU admission

Reduced level of consciousness—n (%) a

299 (32.6)

175 (28.8)

124 (39.9)

 ≤ 0.001g

Need for hemodynamic support—n (%) a

257 (28)

165 (27.2)

92 (29.6)

0.485g

Need for invasive ventilatory support—n (%) a

176 (19.2)

104 (17.1)

72 (23.2)

0.033g

Severity scores at ICU admission

APACHE II score—median (IQR) b

12 (7–18)

11 (6–17)

13 (9–18)

 ≤ 0.001h

SOFA score – median (IQR) c

3 (2–6)

3 (2–6)

3 (2–6)

0.365h

Severe respiratory disfunction at ICU admission—n (%) d

468 (46.4)

318 (46.8)

150 (45.5)

0.687g

Outcome

Length of ICU stay (days)—median (IQR)

4.0 (1.9–8.3)

4.5 (2.2–9.3)

3.1 (1.3–5.7)

 ≤ 0.001h

Limitation of life-sustaining treatments (no increment or withdrawal)—n (%) e

66 (6.6)

43 (6.3)

23 (7)

0.685g

Death—n (%)

246 (24.4)

191 (28.1)

55 (16.7)

 ≤ 0.001g

  1. Clinical characteristics associated with hospitalization and outcomes in patients admitted to intensive care units with severe acute respiratory failure and suspicion for COVID-19, stratified by the strength of the suspicion according to the proposed set of clinical-radiological criteria
  2. ICU intensive care unit, APACHE II Acute Physiology and Chronic Health disease Classification System II, SOFA Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, SD standard deviation, IQR interquartile range
  3. a91 missing data in the total sample, 71 in the strong suspicion group, and 19 in the weak suspicion group
  4. b79 missing data in the total sample, all in the strong suspicion group
  5. c428 missing data in the total sample, 316 in the strong suspicion group, and 112 in the weak suspicion group
  6. dpatients with severe respiratory dysfunction were considered those admitted to the ICU using invasive or non-invasive mechanical ventilation, and/or those who scored three or more in the APACHE II respiratory parameters of the first 24 h in the ICU stay (respiratory rate ≥ 35 or < 5, arterial-alveolar gradient ≥ 350 mmHg in inspired oxygen fraction ≥ 0.5, or oxygen partial pressure ≤ 60 mmHg in inspired oxygen fraction < 0.5. The others were considered as mild/moderate respiratory dysfunction)
  7. eThree patients who progressed with brain death were not considered in the analysis, including one who was in the strong suspicion group and two in the weak suspicion group
  8. fSignificance of Student's t test for independent samples
  9. gSignificance of Fischer's exact test
  10. hSignificance of nonparametric Mann–Whitney test