An international characterisation of patients hospitalised with COVID-19 and a comparison with those previously hospitalised with influenza.

Burn, Edward; You, Seng Chan; Sena, Anthony G; Kostka, Kristin; Abedtash, Hamed; Abrahão, Maria Tereza F; Alberga, Amanda; Alghoul, Heba; Alser, Osaid; Alshammari, Thamir M; Areia, Carlos; Banda, Juan M; Cho, Jaehyeong; Culhane, Aedin C; Davydov, Alexander; DeFalco, Frank J; Duarte-Salles, Talita; DuVall, Scott; Falconer, Thomas; Gao, Weihua; Golozar, Asieh; Hardin, Jill; Hripcsak, George; Huser, Vojtech; Jeon, Hokyun; Jing, Yonghua; Jung, Chi Young; Kaas-Hansen, Benjamin Skov; Kaduk, Denys; Kent, Seamus; Kim, Yeesuk; Kolovos, Spyros; Lane, Jennifer C E; Lee, Hyejin; Lynch, Kristine E; Makadia, Rupa; Matheny, Michael E; Mehta, Paras; Morales, Daniel R; Natarajan, Karthik; Nyberg, Fredrik; Ostropolets, Anna; Park, Rae Woong; Park, Jimyung; Posada, Jose D; Prats-Uribe, Albert; Rao, Gowtham; Reich, Christian; Rho, Yeunsook; Rijnbeek, Peter; Sathappan, Selva Muthu Kumaran; Schilling, Lisa M; Schuemie, Martijn; Shah, Nigam H; Shoaibi, Azza; Song, Seokyoung; Spotnitz, Matthew; Suchard, Marc A; Swerdel, Joel N; Vizcaya, David; Volpe, Salvatore; Wen, Haini; Williams, Andrew E; Yimer, Belay B; Zhang, Lin; Zhuk, Oleg; Prieto-Alhambra, Daniel; Ryan, Patrick

Background To better understand the profile of individuals with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we characterised individuals hospitalised with COVID-19 and compared them to individuals previously hospitalised with influenza. Methods We report the characteristics (demographics, prior conditions and medication use) of patients hospitalised with COVID-19 between December 2019 and April 2020 in the US (Columbia University Irving Medical Center [CUIMC], STAnford Medicine Research data Repository [STARR-OMOP], and the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA OMOP]) and Health Insurance Review & Assessment [HIRA] of South Korea. Patients hospitalised with COVID-19 were compared with patients previously hospitalised with influenza in 2014-19. Results 6,806 (US: 1,634, South Korea: 5,172) individuals hospitalised with COVID-19 were included. Patients in the US were majority male (VA OMOP: 94%, STARR-OMOP: 57%, CUIMC: 52%), but were majority female in HIRA (56%). Age profiles varied across data sources. Prevalence of asthma ranged from 7% to 14%, diabetes from 18% to 43%, and hypertensive disorder from 22% to 70% across data sources, while between 9% and 39% were taking drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system in the 30 days prior to their hospitalisation. Compared to 52,422 individuals hospitalised with influenza, patients admitted with COVID-19 were more likely male, younger, and, in the US, had fewer comorbidities and lower medication use. Conclusions Rates of comorbidities and medication use are high among individuals hospitalised with COVID-19. However, COVID-19 patients are more likely to be male and appear to be younger and, in the US, generally healthier than those typically admitted with influenza.