Table 1 Baseline characteristics before and after propensity score matching.
Unmatched patients | Propensity-Score Matched patients | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Corticosteroid (N = 163) | Non-corticosteroid (N = 857) | p-value | Corticosteroid (N = 118) | Non-corticosteroid (N = 118) | p-value | |
Gender—no. (%) | ||||||
Female | 44 (27.0) | 322 (37.6) | 0.01 | 34 (28.8) | 38 (32.2) | 0.572 |
Male | 119 (73.0) | 535 (62.4) | 84 (71.2) | 80 (67.8) | ||
Age—no. (%) | ||||||
< 40 years | 16 (9.8) | 253 (29.5) | < 0.0001 | 15 (12.7) | 12 (10.2) | 0.885 |
40–59 years | 59 (36.2) | 275 (32.1) | 44 (37.3) | 49 (41.5) | ||
60–79 years | 65 (39.9) | 264 (30.8) | 44 (37.3) | 42 (35.6) | ||
≥ 80 years | 23 (14.1) | 65 (7.6) | 15 (12.7) | 15 (12.7) | ||
Height—cm | 166.5 ± 9.6 | 166.1 ± 9.8 | 0.595 | 166.1 ± 9.5 | 165.4 ± 9.9 | 0.57 |
Body weight—kg | 69.9 ± 18.3 | 66.0 ± 15.5 | 0.008 | 69.0 ± 17.9 | 66.5 ± 13.2 | 0.231 |
Body Mass Index—no. (%) | ||||||
< 18.5 | 4 (2.8) | 55 (7.9) | 0.083 | 3 (2.5) | 1 (0.8) | 0.584 |
≥ 18.5, < 25 | 84 (58.7) | 404 (57.9) | 70 (59.3) | 73 (61.9) | ||
≥ 25 | 55 (38.5) | 239 (34.2) | 45 (38.1) | 44 (37.3) | ||
Race/region—no. (%) | ||||||
Japanese | 158 (96.9) | 782 (91.2) | 0.129 | 113 (95.8) | 116 (98.3) | 0.503 |
East Asians outside of Japan (China, Korea) | 3 (1.8) | 15 (1.8) | 3 (2.5) | 1 (0.8) | ||
South-East Asians | 2 (1.2) | 27 (3.2) | 2 (1.7) | 1 (0.8) | ||
Westerners—Caucasians | 0 (0.0) | 30 (3.5) | ||||
Westerners—Blacks | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.1) | ||||
Others | 0 (0.0) | 2 (0.2) | ||||
Smoking history—no. (%) | ||||||
Never | 91 (59.9) | 456 (59.1) | 0.854 | 72 (61.0) | 74 (62.7) | 0.789 |
Former or Current | 61 (40.1) | 316 (40.9) | 46 (39.0) | 44 (37.3) | ||
Comorbidities—no. (%) | ||||||
Hypertension | 64 (39.3) | 200 (23.3) | < 0.0001 | 42 (35.6) | 37 (31.4) | 0.49 |
Diabetes mellitus | 50 (30.7) | 118 (13.8) | < 0.0001 | 33 (28.0) | 34 (28.8) | 0.885 |
Time from symptom onset to admission—days | 8.4 ± 4.3 | 8.2 ± 4.8 | 0.551 | 8.4 ± 4.4 | 8.4 ± 3.4 | 1 |
Score of 7-point ordinal scale on Day 1—no. (%) | ||||||
2 or 3 | 32 (19.6) | 21 (2.5) | < 0.0001 | 15 (12.7) | 9 (7.6) | 0.537 |
4 | 74 (45.4) | 168 (19.6) | 53 (44.9) | 60 (50.8) | ||
5 | 54 (33.1) | 310 (36.2) | 48 (40.7) | 46 (39.0) | ||
6 | 3 (1.8) | 358 (41.8) | 2 (1.7) | 3 (2.5) | ||
SpO2/FiO2 | ||||||
On Day 1 | 342.1 ± 130.5 | 435.1 ± 70.7 | < 0.0001 | 372.7 ± 112.7 | 383.3 ± 105.3 | 0.457 |
Just before corticosteroid initiation | 292.9 ± 139.2 | 318.8 ± 132.4 | ||||
Symptoms due to COVID-19 | ||||||
Fever ≥ 37 °C—no. (%) | 126 (77.3) | 525 (61.3) | < 0.0001 | 95 (80.5) | 86 (72.9) | 0.166 |
Dyspnea—no. (%) | 92 (56.4) | 249 (29.1) | < 0.0001 | 63 (53.4) | 58 (49.2) | 0.515 |
Taste and/or smell disorder—no. (%) | 19 (11.7) | 198 (23.1) | 0.001 | 15 (12.7) | 25 (21.2) | 0.083 |
Pneumonia on initial Xp/CT—no. (%) | 159 (97.5) | 600 (70.0) | < 0.0001 | 116 (98.3) | 116 (98.3) | 1 |
Laboratory data | ||||||
C-reactive protein—mg/dL | 9.7 ± 7.1 | 4.4 ± 5.7 | < 0.0001 | 8.6 ± 6.9 | 8.3 ± 7.5 | 0.748 |
Lymphocyte count—/µL | 861.8 ± 592.2 | 1193.9 ± 588.2 | < 0.0001 | 848.2 ± 646.6 | 1005.8 ± 589.1 | 0.062 |
