Predictors of Poor Outcomes for COVID-19-Associated Pneumonia in a Minority Population

Background In December 2019, an unprecedented outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology emerged in Wuhan City, Hubei province in China. A novel coronavirus was identified as the causative agent and was subsequently termed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). It rapidly became a pandemic, and it has been a significant challenge to healthcare providers to predict outcomes of the infected patients. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of patients admitted for COVID-19 infection in an Inner-City Hospital in New York City, to assess the correlation between inflammatory markers and outcomes prediction in a high-risk population. Methods We identified 235 patients who were admitted to our Hospital in NYC between March 19th and April 25th, 2020 with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis with associated pneumonia and who also had documented inflammatory markers (D-dimer, C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, ferritin, procalcitonin) during their hospital stay. Results The study population was predominantly non-Hispanic black. There was no statistically significant difference between survivors and non-survivors by race and/or ethnicity (P = 0.69). Thirty-five percent of the patient population had died by the end of this study and those that died had a higher mean age compared to survivors (69.5 +/- 13.6 vs 63.8 +/- 15.2, P = 0.004). There is a significant difference in the D-dimer levels in patients who survived when compared to those who died (P = 0.002). A higher proportion of patients that died were admitted to the ICU, (23.7% vs 55.4%, P < 0.0001) and/or incubated (18.4% vs 51.8%, P < 0.0001). Conclusion Our study demonstrated that patients who died had a significantly higher D-dimer (>3,000) when compared with survivors. Higher mean age was associated with increased mortality and admission to ICU and/or intubation.