Variation in clinical care and outcomes in COVID-19-positive patients across hospitals
| Range across hospitals | P value* | |||||||
| Min | 10th Pctl | 25th Pctl | Median | 75th Pctl | 90th Pctl | Max | ||
| Patient characteristics | ||||||||
| Age >65 years (%) | 30.2 | 35.3 | 39.6 | 51.3 | 56.8 | 64.4 | 65.5 | <0.0001 |
| Black (%) | 0.0 | 17.7 | 29.7 | 46.2 | 76.4 | 93.7 | 94.6 | <0.0001 |
| Male (%) | 39.2 | 45.6 | 47.1 | 53.0 | 56.8 | 72.4 | 73.8 | 0.07 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index, median | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.01 |
| BMI, median | 24.3 | 28.4 | 29.5 | 31.1 | 33.3 | 36.5 | 36.9 | 0.09 |
| Median age (years) | 39.0 | 46.5 | 60.8 | 62.4 | 66.4 | 73.5 | 76.0 | <0.0001 |
| Admission information (%) | ||||||||
| Hospital-to-hospital transfer | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 2.8 | 10.7 | 20.9 | <0.0001 |
| Admitted directly to ICU | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 6.15 | 14.8 | 20.5 | 43.8 | <0.0001 |
| Transferred from floor to ICU | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.4 | 17.6 | 18.8 | 24.1 | 0.09 |
| Admitted to a cohorted unit | 0.0 | 2.1 | 18.6 | 67.9 | 85.71 | 96.3 | 97.1 | <0.0001 |
| Severe illness on presentation† | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 0.09 |
| Vasopressor use on day 1 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.1 | 6.4 | 10.3 | 14.8 | 0.04 |
| Mechanical ventilation on day 1 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.51 | 8.6 | 11.1 | 12.8 | 0.03 |
| Treatment (%) | ||||||||
| Treated in a cohorted unit | 0.0 | 0.00 | 6.3 | 57.1 | 90.9 | 100.0 | 100.0 | <0.0001 |
| Treated in an ICU | 4.2 | 5.4 | 14.0 | 19.1 | 31.0 | 38.5 | 62.5 | <0.0001 |
| COVID-19-specific treatment | 32.4 | 57.1 | 69.2 | 76.4 | 81.4 | 90.2 | 96.3 | <0.0001 |
| Concurrent antibiotic and COVID-19-specific treatment(s) | 24.3 | 42.9 | 59.4 | 69.8 | 76.7 | 84.3 | 96.3 | <0.0001 |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 13.5 | 31.4 | 42.3 | 59.7 | 65.5 | 81.5 | 82.4 | <0.0001 |
| Mechanical ventilation | 2.1 | 2.7 | 6.4 | 10.9 | 31.0 | 38.5 | 40.6 | <0.0001 |
| Vasopressors | 2.2 | 2.9 | 7.0 | 12.1 | 25.0 | 32.1 | 32.5 | <0.0001 |
| CPR before death | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.3 | 14.3 | 33.3 | 40.0 | 66.7 | 0.0102 |
| Outcomes (%) | ||||||||
| Days of mechanical ventilation, median‡ | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 0.01 |
| Length of stay, median | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.5 | <0.0001 |
| ICU length of stay, median§ | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 9.5 | 0.01 |
| DVT | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 7.1 | 0.05 |
| VTE | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.9 | 5.2 | 6.3 | 10.7 | 0.20 |
| PE | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 3.9 | 6.3 | 7.1 | 0.72 |
| Discharge status (%) | ||||||||
| Death | 7.9 | 8.3 | 14.6 | 21.3 | 31.0 | 41.4 | 45.7 | <0.0001 |
| Transferred to another hospital | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 5.1 | 0.07 |
| Discharged home | 42.3 | 48.2 | 62.1 | 67.5 | 72.9 | 80.0 | 82.5 | <0.0001 |
*Differences across hospitals were tested using the Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables and Pearson χ2 test for categorical variables.
†Defined as admission to ICU on day 1 of hospitalisation and treatment with both mechanical ventilation and vasopressors.
‡For patients ever on mechanical ventilation.
§For patients ever in ICU.
¶Variables marked with asterisks represent variation from the demographic cohort.
BMI, body mass index; ICU, intensive care unit; CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation; DVT, deep vein thrombosis; VTE, venous thromboembolism; PE, pulmonary embolism