Table 1 Initial characteristics

Age, median in years (IQR)

61 (23)

66 (19)

 < 0.001

Gender—males, n (%)

436 (51.5)

520 (70.5)

 < 0.001

Days from symptoms onset to admission, median in days (IQR)

7 (6)

6 (4)

0.102

Overweight or obesity, n (%)

178 (21)

215 (29.1)

 < 0.001

Tobacco use, n (%)

188 (22.2)

215 (29.1)

0.002

Diabetes mellitus, n (%)

152 (18)

173 (23.4)

0.007

High blood pressure, n (%)

299 (35.3)

365 (49.5)

 < 0.001

Chronic kidney disease, n (%)

22 (2.6)

79 (10.7)

 < 0.001

Heart failure, n (%)

37 (4.4)

69 (9.4)

 < 0.001

Charlson comorbidity index, n (%)

 Low comorbidity (CCI ≤ 2)

797 (94.2)

648 (87.8)

 High comorbidity (CCI ≥ 3)

49 (5.8)

90 (12.2)

Immunosuppression, n (%)

4 (0.5)

5 (0.7)

0.589

Previous treatment

 < 0.001

 Immunosupressive, n (%)

19 (2.3)

16 (2.2)

0.916

Antihipertensives, n (%)

622 (73.5)

506 (68.6)

0.030

 Non IACE/ARAII antihipertensives, n (%)

96 (11.4)

151 (20.5)

 < 0.001

 Statins, n (%)

542 (64.1)

406 (55)

 < 0.001

 Diuretics, n (%)

517 (61.1)

365 (49.5)

 < 0.001

 NSAIDs, n (%)

26 (3.1)

48 (6.5)

0.001

Body temperature at admission, median in degrees Celsius (IQR)

36.7 (1)

36.6 (0.7)

0.014

Fever at admission, n (%)

101 (12.2)

81 (11.5)

0.682

Sistolic arterial pressure at admission, median in mmHg (IQR)

123 (25)

123 (29.5)

0.059

Diastolic arterial pressure at admission, median in mmHg (IQR)

75 (14)

74 (17)

0.001

Blood oxygen saturation at admission, median in % (IQR)

88 (8)

88 (10)

0.408

qSOFA at admission, n (%)

 < 0.001

 qSOFA 0

385 (45.5)

269 (26.5)

 qSOFA ≥ 1

461 (54.5)

469 (63.5)

PaFi at admission, median (IQR)

262 (106)

217 (159)

 < 0.001

PAFI by severity, n (%)

 < 0.001

 PaFi ≥ 300

653 (77.2)

428 (58)

 PaFi 101—299

140 (16.6)

182 (24.7)

 PaFi ≤ 100

53 (6.3)

128 (17.3)

Lymphocyte count at admission, median in cells × 10^3/ul (IQR)

1.1 (0.7)

0.8 (0.7)

 < 0.001

C-reactive protein at admission, median in mg/l (IQR)

91.7 (119.9)

128.4 (135.4)

 < 0.001

Creatinine at admission, median in mg/dl (IQR)

0.8 (0.3)

1.1 (0.4)

 < 0.001

Blood ureic nitrogen at admission, median in mg/dl (IQR)

15.5 (7.5)

24.2 (18.3)

 < 0.001

Sodium at admission, median in mmol/l (IQR)

137 (5)

137 (6.7)

0.296

Lactate dehydrogenase at admission, median in U/l (IQR)

325.5 (164.1)

386.5 (250.4)

 < 0.001

D-dimer at admission, median in ng/ml (IQR)

776 (931)

1,055 (1,561)

 < 0.001

Platelets al admission, median in cells × 10^3/ul (IQR)

226 (113.9)

211 (118)

 < 0.001