Characterization of COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients in Three United States Electronic Health Record Databases

COVID-19 infections have contributed to substantial increases in hospitalizations. This study describes demographics, baseline clinical characteristics and treatments, and clinical outcomes among U.S. patients admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 during the prevaccine phase of the pandemic. A total of 20,446 hospitalized patients with a positive COVID-19 nucleic acid amplification test were identified from three large electronic health record databases during 5 February-30 November 2020 (Academic Health System: n = 4504; Explorys; n = 7492; OneFlorida: n = 8450). Over 90% of patients were >= 30 years of age, with an even distribution between sexes. At least one comorbidity was recorded in 84.6-96.1% of patients; cardiovascular and respiratory conditions (28.8-50.3%) and diabetes (25.6-44.4%) were most common. Anticoagulants were the most frequently reported medications on or up to 28 days after admission (44.5-81.7%). Remdesivir was administered to 14.1-24.6% of patients and increased over time. Patients exhibited higher COVID-19 severity 14 days following admission than the 14 days prior to and on admission. The length of in-patient hospital stay ranged from a median of 4 to 6 days, and over 85% of patients were discharged alive. These results promote understanding of the clinical characteristics and hospital-resource utilization associated with hospitalized COVID-19 over time.

Automated summary

This study provides an overview of the demographics, clinical characteristics, treatments, and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the U.S. during the pre-vaccine phase. The majority of patients were over 30 years old and had comorbidities such as cardiovascular/respiratory diseases and diabetes. Anticoagulants were commonly used, and the administration of remdesivir increased over time. Patients showed higher disease severity after 14 days of admission compared to before admission. The median length of hospital stay was 4-6 days, and most patients were discharged alive.