Clinical characteristics and durations of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Beijing: a retrospective cohort study

Objective: To provide information on clinical characteristics and different durations of COVID-19 and to identify the potential risk factors for longer hospitalization of patients with COVID-19. Methods: In this retrospective study, we enrolled 77 patients (age 52 ± 20 years;44.2% males) with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 admitted to Beijing YouAn Hospital between January 21 and February 8, 2020. Epidemiological, clinical, and radiological data on admission were collected;complications and outcomes were followed up until February 26, 2020. The end point of the study was discharge alive within 2 weeks. Cox proportional-hazards regression was performed to identify risk factors for longer hospitalization. Results: Of 77 patients, there were 34 males (44.2%), 24 (31.2%) with comorbidities, 22 (28.6%) with lymphopenia, 20 (26.0%) with severe COVID-19, and 28 (36.4%) with complications. By the end of follow-up, 64 patients (83.1%) were discharged home, eight remained in hospital, and five had died. Thirty-six patients (46.8%) were discharged within 14 days and thus reached the study end point, including 34 of the 57 patients with nonsevere COVID-19 (59.6%) and two of the 20 patients with severe COVID-19 (10%). The overall cumulative probability of the end point was 48.3%. Hospital length of stay and the duration from exposure to discharge for the 64 discharged patients were 13 (10−16.5) days and 23 (18−24.5) days, respectively. A multivariable stepwise Cox regression model showed that bilateral pneumonia on CT scan, shorter time from illness onset to admission, severity of disease, and lymphopenia were independently associated with longer hospitalization. Conclusions: COVID-19 has a shorter duration of disease and hospital length of stay than severe acute respiratory syndrome. Bilateral pneumonia on CT scan, shorter period from illness onset to admission, lymphopenia, and severity of disease are the risk factors for longer hospitalization of patients with COVID-19.