Skip to main content
Annals of Intensive Care

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of groups according to corticosteroid treatment before and after propensity score matching

From: Corticosteroid treatment and mortality in mechanically ventilated COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients: a multicentre cohort study

 

Unmatched cohort (n = 1835)

Matched cohort (n = 1580)

Corticosteroids (n = 1117)

No corticosteroids (n = 718)

Smd

P value

Corticosteroids (n = 1117)

No corticosteroids (n = 463)

Smd

P value

Demographic characteristics

 Age (years)

64 [57–71]

65 [55–72]

− 0.03

0.31

64 [57–71]

66 [57–72]

− 0.06

0.33

 Gender

0.04

0.44

  

0.05

0.38

  Male

793 (71%)

497 (69.2%)

  

793 (71%)

339 (73.2%)

  

  Female

324 (29%)

221 (30.8%)

  

324 (29%)

124 (26.8%)

  

 BMI (kg/m2)

28 [26–31]

28 [26–31]

0.02

0.45

28 [26–31]

28 [26–31]

0.03

0.82

Time course of disease (days)

 Diagnosis gapa

6 [4–8]

6 [4–8]

 

0.78

6.2 [4–8]

6.5 [5–8]

 

0.33

 Hospital gapb

7 [5–8]

6 [4–8]

0.06

0.09

7 [5–8]

6.2 [5–8]

0.05

0.37

 ICU gapc

2 [0–4]

1 [0–3]

0.06

0.02

2 [0–4]

1 [0–3]

0.14

0.11

Comorbidities

 Any comorbidity

825 (73.9%)

536 (74.6%)

− 0.02

0.74

825 (73.9%)

339 (73.2%)

0.01

0.84

 Hypertension

512 (45.8%)

340 (47.3%)

− 0.03

0.55

512 (45.8%)

213 (46%)

− 0.01

0.99

  Prior ACE inhibitors

173 (15.5%)

128 (17.8%)

 

0.20

173 (15.5%)

87 (18.8%)

 

0.12

  Prior ARBs

201 (18%)

126 (17.5%)

 

0.85

201 (18%)

68 (14.8%)

 

0.13

 Diabetes mellitus

236 (21.1%)

143 (20%)

0.03

0.57

236 (21.1%)

85 (18.4%)

0.06

0.25

 Dyslipidaemia

120 (10.7%)

68 (9.5%)

0.04

0.42

120 (10.7%)

40 (8.7%)

0.06

0.27

 Ischaemic heart disease

73 (6.5%)

49 (6.8%)

− 0.01

0.88

73 (6.5%)

25 (5.5%)

0.04

0.49

 Asthma

80 (7.2%)

41 (5.7%)

0.06

0.25

80 (7.2%)

28 (6%)

0.04

0.47

 COPD

79 (7.1%)

61 (8.5%)

− 0.05

0.30

79 (7.1%)

25 (5.4%)

0.06

0.77

 Chronic kidney disease

46 (4.1%)

31 (4.3%)

− 0.01

0.92

46 (4.1%)

15 (3.2%)

0.04

0.48

 Immunosuppression

40 (3.6%)

24 (3.3%)

0.01

0.88

40 (3.6%)

15 (3.3%)

0.01

0.90

 Haematological disease

34 (3%)

33 (4.6%)

− 0.09

0.10

34 (3%)

14 (3%)

0.01

0.99

 Autoimmune disease

47 (4.2%)

30 (4.2%)

0.01

0.99

47 (4.2%)

17 (3.7%)

0.02

0.78

 Neuromuscular disease

9 (0.8%)

9 (1.2%)

− 0.05

0.47

9 (0.8%)

4 (0.8%)

0

0.99

 Hypothyroidism

32 (2.8%)

25 (3.5%)

− 0.04

0.54

32 (2.8%)

8 (1.6%)

0.07

0.20

Disease severity

 APACHE II score

15 [11–18]

15 [11–19]

− 0.07

0.51

15 [11–18]

15 [11–18]

0.03

0.87

 SOFA score

6 [4–8]

6 [4–8]

− 0.04

0.74

6 [4–8]

6 [4–8]

0.04

0.49

 Pulmonary infiltrates

0.02

0.78

  

0.07

0.20

  ≤ 2

355 (31.8%)

223 (31.1%)

  

355 (31.8%)

131 (28.4%)

  

  > 2

762 (68.2%)

495 (68.9%)

  

762 (68.2%)

332 (71.6%)

  

 ARDS

0.005

   

0.22

  Mildd

267 (23.9%)

209 (29.1%)

− 0.12

 

266 (23.8%)

110 (23.8%)

0

 

  Moderatee

566 (50.7%)

367 (51.1%)

− 0.01

 

566 (50.7%)

253 (54.6%)

− 0.08

 

  Severef

284 (25.4%)

142 (19.8%)

0.13

 

285 (25.5%)

100 (21.6%)

0.09

 

Laboratory data

 C-reactive protein (mg/dl)

15.9 [9.1–24.6]

17.1 [10.1–24.8]

− 0.09

0.09

16 [9.0–24.3]

17.4 [10.3–24.7]

− 0.06

0.11

 Procalcitonin (ng/ml)

0.3 [0.2–0.8]

0.3 [0.2–0.9]

− 0.05

0.22

0.3 [0.2–0.8]

0.3 [0.2–0.7]

0.06

0.28

 D-dimer (ng/ml)

1810 [790–4845]

1600 [742–4193]

0.09

0.03

1801 [790–4817]

1650 [774–4237]

0.13

0.24

Complications

 Shock

545 (48.8%)

370 (51.5%)

− 0.05

0.27

545 (48.8%)

242 (52.2%)

− 0.07

0.24

 Acute kidney injury

0.01

   

0.81

  RIFLE I

94 (8.4%)

84 (11.7%)

− 0.12

 

94 (8.4%)

38 (8.2%)

0.01

 

  RIFLE II

81 (7.3%)

67 (9.3%)

− 0.08

 

81 (7.3%)

31 (6.6%)

0.02

 

  RIFLE III

147 (13.2%)

101 (14.1%)

− 0.03

 

147 (13.2%)

54 (11.7%)

0.04

 

 Myocardial dysfunction

89 (7.8%)

91 (12.7%)

− 0.17

0.001

89 (7.8%)

37 (8.1%)

− 0.01

0.99

 Bacterial co-infection

128 (11.4%)

74 (10.3%)

 

0.48

128 (11.4%)

49 (10.6%)

 

0.67

Treatments

 Remdesivir

24 (2.2%)

19 (2.7%)

 

0.59

24 (2.2%)

12 (2.6%)

 

0.72

 Tocilizumab

392 (35.1%)

156 (21.7%)

0.28

< 0.001

392 (35.1%)

147 (31.7%)

0.07

0.21

  1. Data are presented as numbers (%) or medians [interquartile range]. Smd < 0.01 are expressed as 0.01
  2. Smd standardized mean differences, BMI body mass index, ICU intensive care unit, ACE angiotensin-converting enzyme, ARBs angiotensin receptor blockers, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, APACHE Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation, SOFA Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, ARDS acute respiratory distress syndrome, RIFLE criteria Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, End stage
  3. aDiagnosis gap means the time from disease onset to the confirmation of the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection
  4. bHospital gap means the time from disease onset to hospital admission
  5. cICU gap means the time from hospital to ICU admission
  6. dClassified as the worst value of PaO2/FiO2 ratio < 300 within the first day of ICU admission
  7. eClassified as the worst value of PaO2/FiO2 between 200 and 300 within the first day of ICU admission
  8. fClassified as the worst value of PaO2/FiO2 < 100 within the first day of ICU admission
Back to article page