This study identified factors associated with hospital admission among people with laboratory-diagnosed COVID-19 cases in British Columbia. The study used data from the BC COVID-19 Cohort, which integrates data on all COVID-19 cases with data on hospitalizations, medical visits, emergency room visits, prescription drugs, chronic conditions and deaths. The analysis included all laboratory-diagnosed COVID-19 cases in British Columbia to 15 January 2021. We evaluated factors associated with hospital admission using multivariable Poisson regression analysis with robust error variance. Of the 56,874 COVID-19 cases included in the analysis, 2298 were hospitalized. Factors associated with increased hospitalization risk were as follows: male sex (adjusted risk ratio (aRR) = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.17-1.37), older age (p-trend < 0.0001 across age groups increasing hospitalization risk with increasing age [aRR 30-39 years = 3.06; 95% CI = 2.32-4.03, to aRR 80+ years = 43.68; 95% CI = 33.41-57.10 compared to 20-29 years-old]), asthma (aRR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.04-1.26), cancer (aRR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.09-1.29), chronic kidney disease (aRR = 1.32; 95% CI = 1.19-1.47), diabetes (treated without insulin aRR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.03-1.25, requiring insulin aRR = 5.05; 95% CI = 4.43-5.76), hypertension (aRR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.08-1.31), injection drug use (aRR = 2.51; 95% CI = 2.14-2.95), intellectual and developmental disabilities (aRR = 1.67; 95% CI = 1.05-2.66), problematic alcohol use (aRR = 1.63; 95% CI = 1.43-1.85), immunosuppression (aRR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.09-1.53), and schizophrenia and psychotic disorders (aRR = 1.49; 95% CI = 1.23-1.82). In an analysis restricted to women of reproductive age, pregnancy (aRR = 2.69; 95% CI = 1.42-5.07) was associated with increased risk of hospital admission. Older age, male sex, substance use, intellectual and developmental disability, chronic comorbidities, and pregnancy increase the risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization.
Keywords: COVID-19; cohort studies; diabetes mellitus; hospitalization; intellectual disability; mental health; pregnancy; registries; risk factors; substance-related disorders.