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Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Adult Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19 - Georgia, March 2020

Jeremy A W Gold et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was first detected in the United States during January 2020 (1). Since then, >980,000 cases have been reported in the United States, including >55,000 associated deaths as of April 28, 2020 (2). Detailed data on demographic characteristics, underlying medical conditions, and clinical outcomes for persons hospitalized with COVID-19 are needed to inform prevention strategies and community-specific intervention messages. For this report, CDC, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and eight Georgia hospitals (seven in metropolitan Atlanta and one in southern Georgia) summarized medical record-abstracted data for hospitalized adult patients with laboratory-confirmed* COVID-19 who were admitted during March 2020. Among 305 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, 61.6% were aged <65 years, 50.5% were female, and 83.2% with known race/ethnicity were non-Hispanic black (black). Over a quarter of patients (26.2%) did not have conditions thought to put them at higher risk for severe disease, including being aged ≥65 years. The proportion of hospitalized patients who were black was higher than expected based on overall hospital admissions. In an adjusted time-to-event analysis, black patients were not more likely than were nonblack patients to receive invasive mechanical ventilation† (IMV) or to die during hospitalization (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.35-1.13). Given the overrepresentation of black patients within this hospitalized cohort, it is important for public health officials to ensure that prevention activities prioritize communities and racial/ethnic groups most affected by COVID-19. Clinicians and public officials should be aware that all adults, regardless of underlying conditions or age, are at risk for serious illness from COVID-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. James M. Blum reports personal fees from Clew Medical, outside the submitted work. No other potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Age distribution of adults hospitalized with COVID–19 (N = 305) — eight hospitals, Georgia, March 2020 Abbreviation: COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (N = 305) (A) and percentage who received invasive mechanical ventilation or died (B), by race/ethnicity — eight hospitals, Georgia, March 2020 Abbreviations: COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; IMV = invasive mechanical ventilation. * A total of 273 patients had available race/ethnicity data and known hospitalization outcomes. † Vertical bars represent 95% confidence intervals for proportions. § Black was defined as non-Hispanic black race/ethnicity; other includes all other racial/ethnic groups.
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