Journal Article

Characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients in New York City’s public hospital system

Ayinla, Raji, Stevens, David, Gaither, Kecia, Sydney, Elana, Rizzo, Vincent, Mukherjee, Vikramjit, Costarella, Roseann, Wallach, Andrew, Chokshi, Dave A., Jacobson, Jessica, Dolle, Johanna, Kessler, Stuart, Rowell, Madden, Cosme-Thormann, Braulio F., Kanter, Marc, Grami, Sheila, Adule, Richard, Kalyanaraman Marcello, Roopa, Kristal, Ross B., Davis, Nichola, Li, Zeyu, Tatem, Kathleen, Apfelroth, Stephen, Brady, Terence, Lieber, Joseph J., Anyaogu, Chinyere, Boma, Noella, Ford, Kenra

2020

Overview

New York City (NYC) bore the greatest burden of COVID-19 in the United States early in the pandemic. In this case series, we describe characteristics and outcomes of racially and ethnically diverse patients tested for and hospitalized with COVID-19 in New York City's public hospital system. We reviewed the electronic health records of all patients who received a SARS-CoV-2 test between March 5 and April 9, 2020, with follow up through April 16, 2020. The primary outcomes were a positive test, hospitalization, and death. Demographics and comorbidities were also assessed. 22254 patients were tested for SARS-CoV-2. 13442 (61%) were positive; among those, the median age was 52.7 years (interquartile range [IQR] 39.5-64.5), 7481 (56%) were male, 3518 (26%) were Black, and 4593 (34%) were Hispanic. Nearly half (4669, 46%) had at least one chronic disease (27% diabetes, 30% hypertension, and 21% cardiovascular disease). Of those testing positive, 6248 (46%) were hospitalized. The median age was 61.6 years (IQR 49.7-72.9); 3851 (62%) were male, 1950 (31%) were Black, and 2102 (34%) were Hispanic. More than half (3269, 53%) had at least one chronic disease (33% diabetes, 37% hypertension, 24% cardiovascular disease, 11% chronic kidney disease). 1724 (28%) hospitalized patients died. The median age was 71.0 years (IQR 60.0, 80.9); 1087 (63%) were male, 506 (29%) were Black, and 528 (31%) were Hispanic. Chronic diseases were common (35% diabetes, 37% hypertension, 28% cardiovascular disease, 15% chronic kidney disease). Male sex, older age, diabetes, cardiac history, and chronic kidney disease were significantly associated with testing positive, hospitalization, and death. Racial/ethnic disparities were observed across all outcomes. This is the largest and most racially/ethnically diverse case series of patients tested and hospitalized for COVID-19 in New York City to date. Our findings highlight disparities in outcomes that can inform prevention and testing recommendations.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Adolescent / Adult / Age / Age Factors / Aged / Ambulatory care / Asthma / Cardiovascular diseases / Child / Child, Preschool / COVID-19 / COVID-19 - ethnology / COVID-19 - mortality / COVID-19 - therapy / Demographic aspects / Demographics / Demography / Diabetes / Diabetes mellitus / Electronic health records / Electronic medical records / Epidemics / Ethnic Groups / Fatalities / Female / Follow-Up Studies / Heart diseases / Hospitals, Public / Humans / Hypertension / Infant / Infant, Newborn / Kidney diseases / Kidneys / Male / Medicine and Health Sciences / Middle Aged / New York City - epidemiology / New York City - ethnology / Pandemics / Patient outcomes / People and Places / Population / Retrospective Studies / Risk Factors / SARS-CoV-2 / Severe acute respiratory syndrome / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / Sex Factors / Tidal bores / United States / Viral diseases