Changes in COVID-19-related outcomes and the impacts of the potential risk factors over time: a follow-up analysis
Authors: Yu Youfei , Gu Tian , Valley Thomas S. , Fritsche Lars G. , Mukherjee Bhramar 
Published: January 2021

Importance

Characteristics of COVID-19 patients changed over the course of the pandemic. Understanding how risk factors changed over time can enhance the coordination of healthcare resources and protect the vulnerable.

Objective

To investigate the overall trend of severe COVID-19-related outcomes over time since the start of the pandemic, and to evaluate whether the impacts of potential risk factors, such as race/ethnic groups, changed over time.

Design

This retrospective cohort study included patients tested or treated for COVID-19 at Michigan Medicine (MM) from March 10, 2020, to September 2, 2020. According to the quarter in which they first tested positive, the COVID-19-positive cohort were stratified into three groups: Q1, March 1, 2020 – March 31, 2020; Q2, April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2020; Q3, July 1, 2020 – September 2, 2020.

Settings

Large, academic medical center.

Participants

Individuals tested or treated for COVID-19.

Exposure

Examined potential risk factors included age, race/ethnicity, smoking status, alcohol consumption, comorbidities, body mass index (BMI), and residential-level socioeconomic characteristics.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The main outcomes included COVID-19-related hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and mortality, which were identified from the electronic health records from MM.

Results

The study cohort consisted of 53,853 patients tested or treated for COVID-19 at MM, with mean (SD) age of 44.8 (23.1), mean (SD) BMI of 29.1 (7.6), and 23,814 (44.2%) males. Among the 2,582 patients who tested positive, 719 (27.8%) were hospitalized, 377 (14.6%) were admitted to ICU, and 129 (5.0%) died. The overall COVID-positive hospitalization rate decreased from 41.5% in Q1 to 12.6% in Q3, and the overall ICU admission rate decreased from 24.5% to 5.3%. Black patients had significantly higher (unadjusted) overall hospitalization rate (265 [41.1%] vs 326 [23.2%]), ICU admission rate (139 [21.6%] vs 172 [12.2%]), and mortality rate (42 [6.5%] vs 56 [4.0%]) than White patients. Each quarter, the hospitalization rate remained higher for Black patients compared to White patients, but this difference was attenuated over time for the (unadjusted) odds ratios (Q1: OR=1.9, 95% CI [1.25, 2.90]; Q2: OR=1.42, 95% CI [1.02, 1.98]; Q3: OR=1.36, 95% CI [0.67, 2.65]). Similar decreasing patterns were observed for ICU admission and mortality. Adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and comorbidity score, the racial disparities in hospitalization between White and Black patients were not significant in each quarter of the year (Q1: OR=1.43, 95% CI [0.75, 2.71]; Q2: OR=1.25, 95% CI [0.79, 1.98]; Q3: OR=1.76 95% CI [0.81, 3.85]), in contrast to what was observed in the full cohort (OR=1.85, 95% CI [1.39, 2.47]). Additionally, significant association of hospitalization with living in densely populated area was identified in the first quarter (OR= 664, 95% CI [20.4, 21600]), but such association disappeared in the second and third quarters (Q2: OR= 1.72 95% CI [0.22, 13.5]; Q3: OR=3.69, 95% CI [0.103, 132]). Underlying liver diseases were positively associated with hospitalization in White patients (OR=1.60, 95% CI [1.01, 2.55], P=.046), but not in Black patients (OR=0.49, 95% CI [0.23, 1.06], P=.072, Pint=.013). Similar results were obtained for the effect of liver diseases on ICU admission in White and Black patients (White: OR=1.75, 95% CI [1.01, 3.05], P=.047; Black: OR=0.46, 95% CI [0.17, 1.26], P=.130, Pint=.030).

Conclusions and Relevance

These findings suggest that the COVID-19-related hospitalization, ICU admission, and mortality rates were decreasing over the course of the pandemic. Although racial disparities persisted, the magnitude of the differences in hospitalization and ICU admission rates diminished over time.

Key Points

Questions

How did the overall hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) admission rates change over the course of the pandemic and how did they vary by race?

Findings

In this cohort study of 2,582 patients testing positive for COVID-19, the unadjusted hospitalization rate decreased from 50.5% in Q1 (March 10, 2020, to March 31, 2020) to 17.9% in Q3 (July 1, 2020, to September 2, 2020) for Black patients, and from 23.2% in Q1 to 13.8% in Q3 for White patients. After adjusting for age, sex, sociodemographic factors, and comorbidity conditions, the odds ratios of hospitalization between White and Black patients were not significant in each quarter of the year 2020. No significant associations between ICU admission and race/ethnic groups were identified in each quarter or the entire three quarters.

Meaning

These findings suggests an appreciable decline in hospitalization and ICU admission rates among COVID-19 positive patients. The hospitalization and ICU admission rates across race/ethnic groups became closer over time.