Comparison of outcome and characteristics between 6343 COVID-19 patients and 2256 other community-acquired viral pneumonia patients admitted to Dutch ICUs

S Brinkman; F Termorshuizen; D A Dongelmans; F Bakhshi-Raiez; M S Arbous; D W de Lange; N F de Keizer; Dutch COVID-19 Research Consortium

doi:10.1016/j.jcrc.2021.12.007

Comparison of outcome and characteristics between 6343 COVID-19 patients and 2256 other community-acquired viral pneumonia patients admitted to Dutch ICUs

J Crit Care. 2022 Apr:68:76-82. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2021.12.007. Epub 2021 Dec 18.

Authors

S Brinkman¹, F Termorshuizen², D A Dongelmans³, F Bakhshi-Raiez², M S Arbous⁴, D W de Lange⁵, N F de Keizer²; Dutch COVID-19 Research Consortium

Collaborators

Dutch COVID-19 Research Consortium:
D P Verbiest, L F Te Velde, E M van Driel, T Rijpstra, P W G Elbers, A P I Houwink, L Georgieva, E Verweij, R M de Jong, F M van Iersel, T J J Koning, E Rengers, N Kusadasi, M L Erkamp, R van den Berg, C J M G Jacobs, J L Epker, A A Rijkeboer, M T de Bruin, P Spronk, A Draisma, D J Versluis, A E van den Berg, M Vrolijk-de Mos, J A Lens, R V Pruijsten, H Kieft, J Rozendaal, F Nooteboom, D P Boer, I T A Janssen, L van Gulik, M P Koetsier, V M Silderhuis, R M Schnabel, I Drogt, W de Ruijter, R J Bosman, T Frenzel, L C Urlings-Strop, A Dijkhuizen, I Z Hené, A R de Meijer, J W M Holtkamp, N Postma, A J G H Bindels, R M J Wesselink, E R van Slobbe-Bijlsma, P H J van der Voort, B J W Eikemans, D J Mehagnoul-Schipper, D Gommers, J G Lutisan, M Hoeksema, M G W Barnas, B Festen-Spanjer, M van Lieshout, N C Gritters, M van Tellingen, G B Brunnekreef, J Vandeputte, T P J Dormans, M E Hoogendoorn, M de Graaff, D Moolenaar, A C Reidinga, J J Spijkstra, R de Waal

Affiliations

¹ National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) Foundation, Postbus 23640, 1100 EC Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC location AMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Medical Informatics, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address: s.brinkman@amsterdamumc.nl.
² National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) Foundation, Postbus 23640, 1100 EC Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC location AMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Medical Informatics, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
³ National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) Foundation, Postbus 23640, 1100 EC Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam UMC location AMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁴ National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) Foundation, Postbus 23640, 1100 EC Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, the Netherlands.
⁵ National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) Foundation, Postbus 23640, 1100 EC Amsterdam, the Netherlands; University Medical Center, University of Utrecht, Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Purpose: Describe the differences in characteristics and outcomes between COVID-19 and other viral pneumonia patients admitted to Dutch ICUs.

Materials and methods: Data from the National-Intensive-Care-Evaluation-registry of COVID-19 patients admitted between February 15th and January 1th 2021 and other viral pneumonia patients admitted between January 1st 2017 and January 1st 2020 were used. Patients' characteristics, the unadjusted, and adjusted in-hospital mortality were compared.

Results: 6343 COVID-19 and 2256 other viral pneumonia patients from 79 ICUs were included. The COVID-19 patients included more male (71.3 vs 49.8%), had a higher Body-Mass-Index (28.1 vs 25.5), less comorbidities (42.2 vs 72.7%), and a prolonged hospital length of stay (19 vs 9 days). The COVID-19 patients had a significantly higher crude in-hospital mortality rate (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.80), after adjustment for patient characteristics and ICU occupancy rate the OR was respectively 3.62 and 3.58.

Conclusion: Higher mortality among COVID-19 patients could not be explained by patient characteristics and higher ICU occupancy rates, indicating that COVID-19 is more severe compared to other viral pneumonia. Our findings confirm earlier warnings of a high need of ICU capacity and high mortality rates among relatively healthy COVID-19 patients as this may lead to a higher mental workload for the staff.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Critical care; Intensive care; Mortality; Outcome; Pneumonia.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Hospital Mortality
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Length of Stay
Male
Pneumonia, Viral*
Retrospective Studies