The Clinical Significance of Procalcitonin Elevation in Patients over 75 Years Old Admitted for COVID-19 Pneumonia
Table 2
Anamnestic and electrocardiographic characteristics the 1074 study participants, stratified according to procalcitonin levels on admission.
()
PCT ≥0.05-<0.5 ng/ml ()
PCT ≥0.5-<2 ng/ml ()
()
Standardized or odds ratio
Personal history
Total dependency in daily activities, %
9
18
15
30
0.017
1.33 (1.05-1.68)
Chronic diseases, number
2 (1-4)
3 (1-4)
3 (2-4)
4 (2-5)
0.028
0.062
Drugs, number
3 (0-6)
3 (1-6)
4 (2-7)
5 (3-8)
0.002
0.092
Hypertension, %
47
58
65
66
0.080
Diabetes, %
14
19
24
27
0.225
Obesity, %
8
12
16
12
0.031
1.31 (1.03-1.68)
Chronic heart disease, %
22
22
33
35
0.166
Chronic kidney disease, %
2
5
10
20
<0.001
1.97 (1.48-2.62)
ACE-I treatment, %
16
24
26
22
0.946
ARB treatment, %
20
16
18
23
0.723
COVID-19-related symptoms
Duration of symptoms, days
7 (4-10)
7 (4-10)
7 (4-10)
5 (3-7)
0.034
-0.069
Cough, %
50
48
47
32
0.065
Dyspnea, %
45
52
61
64
0.009
1.26 (1.06-1.49)
Diarrhea, %
9
7
8
9
0.360
Fever, %
75
84
80
85
0.124
Electrocardiogram abnormalities on admission
Electrocardiogram abnormalities, %
38
47
59
69
<0.001
1.44 (1.20-1.72)
Repolarization abnormalities, %
22
26
31
42
0.001
1.35 (1.12-1.62)
Atrial fibrillation, %
5
10
15
19
0.008
1.42 (1.10-1.84)
Other tachiarrythmias, %
2
4
6
13
0.007
1.59 (1.14-2.21)
QTC, msec
442 (420-461)
445 (427-467)
449 (437-480)
459 (436-487)
0.019
0.085
adjusted for age, sex, consolidations, and positive nasopharyngeal swab. Data shown as median and interquartile range (IQR) or percentage. values calculated with linear regression for continuous variables and logistic regression for dichotomous variables (PCT: procalcitonin; COVID-19: CoronaVirus Disease-19; ACE-I: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors; ARB: angiotensin receptor blocker; QTC: QT interval corrected according to the Bazin formula).
