Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of 1,014 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in Alahsa Governorate, Saudi Arabia, stratified by ICU admission

Demographics

 Age, mean ± SD, years

47.2 ± 19.3 (1–104)

45.3 ± 19.3 (1–104)

52.9 ± 17.3 (5–95)

 ≤ 0.0005

Distribution

 0–10 years

28 (2.8%)

20 (2.5%)

8 (3.9%)

 ≤ 0.0005

 11–20 years

37 (3.6%)

33 (4.2%)

4 (1.9%)

 21–30 years

126 (12.5%)

110 (13.6%)

16 (7.8%)

 31–40 years

214 (21.1%)

195 (24.1%)

19 (9.3%)

 41–50 years

164 (16.2%)

137 (16.9%)

27 (13.2%)

 51–60 years

186 (18.3%)

155 (19.2%)

31 (15.1%)

 61–70 years

144 (14.2%)

108 (13.3%)

36 (17.6%)

 71–80 years

65 (6.4%)

32 (3.9%)

33 (16.1%)

 81–90 years

37 (3.6%)

10 (1.2%)

27 (13.2%)

  ≥ 90 years

13 (1.3%)

9 (1.1%)

4 (1.9%)

Gender

 Male

582 (57.4%)

466 (57.6%)

116 (56.5%)

0.858

 Female gender

432 (42.6%)

343 (42.4%)

89 (43.5%)

Nationality

 Saudi

900 (88.8%)

721 (89.1%)

179 (87.3%)

0.886

 Non-Saudi

114 (11.2%)

88 (10.9%)

26 (12.7%)

Occupation

 Healthcare worker

21 (2.1%)

16 (2%)

5 (2.4%)

0.755

 Non-healthcare worker

993 (97.9%)

793 (98%)

200 (97.6%)

Smoking status

 Not a smoker

920 (90.7%)

786 (97.2%)

134 (65.4%)

0.223

 Past smoker

35 (3.4%)

6 (0.7%)

29 (14.1%)

 Current smoker

59 (5.9%)

17 (2.1%)

42 (20.5%)

Hospital

 King Fahad Hofuf Hospital

300 (29.6%)

249 (30.8%)

51 (24.9%)

 ≤ 0.0005

 Aljabr Eye and ENT Hospital

218 (21.5%)

174 (21.5%)

44 (21.5%)

 Alomran General Hospital

200 (19.7%)

150 (18.5%)

50 (24.4%)

 King Faisal General Hospital

163 (16.1%)

152 (18.8%)

11 (5.4%)

 Maternity and Children Hospital

71 (7%)

55 (6.8%)

16 (7.8%)

 Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Hospital

62 (6.1%)

29 (3.6%)

33 (16%)

Educational level

 Illiterate

146 (14.4%)

61 (7.5%)

85 (41.5%)

0.06

 Primary to secondary

529 (52.2%)

449 (55.5%)

80 (39%)

 University

172 (17%)

153 (18.9%)

19 (9.3%)

 Unknown

167 (16.4%)

146 (18.1%)

21 (10.2%)

Exposure history

 Contact with positive confirmed case

668 (65.9%)

548 (67.7%)

120 (58.5%)

0.062

 Familiar/cluster infections

180 (17.8%)

149 (18.4%)

31 (15.1%)

 Hospital staff

21 (2.1%)

17 (2.1%)

4 (1.9%)

 From outside Saudi

1 (0.1%)

1 (0.1%)

0

 Unknown

144 (14.1%)

94 (11.6%)

50 (24.4%)

Highest temperature (°C):

  < 37.3

467 (46.1%)

414 (51.3%)

53 (25.8%)

 ≤ 0.0005

 37.3–38.0

338 (33.3%)

226 (27.9%)

112 (54.7%)

 38.01–39.0

147 (14.5%)

116 (14.3%)

31 (15.1%)

  > 39.0

62 (6.1%)

53 (6.5%)

9 (4.4%)

 Respiratory rate > 24 breaths per min

312 (30.8%)

168 (20.8%)

144 (70.2%)

 ≤ 0.0005

Comorbidities

 Diabetes

202 (19.9%)

142 (17.5%)

60 (29.3%)

 ≤ 0.0005

 Hypertension

276 (27.2%)

165 (20.4%)

111 (54.1%)

 ≤ 0.0005

 Obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²)

91 (9%)

65 (8%)

26 (12.7%)

0.048

 Asthma

26 (2.6%)

15 (1.8%)

11 (5.4%)

0.179

 Coronary artery disease

16 (1.6%)

7 (0.9%)

9 (4.4%)

0.778

 Thalassemia

3 (0.3%)

0

3 (1.5%)

0.222

 Chronic kidney disease

5 (0.5%)

0

5 (2.4%)

0.592

 Liver disease

1 (0.1%)

0

1 (0.5%)

0.778

 Cerebrovascular disease

6 (0.6%)

3 (0.4%)

3 (1.5%)

0.127

 Cancer

5 (0.5%)

1 (0.1%)

4 (1.9%)

0.691

 Cardiomyopathies

3 (0.3%)

1 (0.1%)

2 (1%)

0.395

 Heart failure

2 (0.2%)

0

2 (1%)

0.605

 Ischemic heart disease

12 (1.2%)

3 (0.4%)

9 (4.4%)

0.520

 Sickle cell disease

31 (3%)

17 (2.1)

14 (6.8%)

0.039

 G6PD deficiency

14 (1.4%)

11 (1.3%)

3 (1.5%)

0.621

 Pregnant

18 (1.8%)

10 (1.2%)

8 (3.9%)

0.379

 Asymptomatic

152 (15%)

148 (18.3%)

4 (1.9%)

 ≤ 0.0005

Symptoms

 Fever

348 (34.3%)

230 (28.4%)

118 (57.6%)

 ≤ 0.0005

 Shortness of breath

362 (35.7%)

248 (30.6%)

114 (55.6%)

 ≤ 0.0005

 Cough

484 (47.7%)

338 (41.8%)

146 (71.2%)

 ≤ 0.0005

 Aches and pains

43 (4.2%)

24 (3%)

19 (9.3%)

0.139

 Loss of taste or smell

54 (5.3%)

38 (4.7%)

16 (7.8%)

0.562

 Nausea

19 (1.9%)

14 (1.7%)

5 (2.4%)

0.170

 Chest pain

42 (4.1%)

26 (3.2%)

16 (7.8%)

0.258

 Sore throat

46 (4.5%)

27 (3.3%)

19 (9.3%)

0.053

 Headache

70 (6.9%)

46 (5.7%)

24 (11.7%)

0.063

 Diarrhea

70 (6.9%)

62 (7.7%)

8 (3.9%)

0.077

 Fatigue

74 (7.3%)

42 (5.2%)

32 (15.6%)

0.011

 Myalgia

68 (6.7%)

44 (5.4%)

24 (11.7%)

0.153

 Abdominal pain

25 (2.5%)

19 (2.3%)

6 (2.9%)

0.102

 Vomiting

28 (2.8%)

24 (3%)

4 (1.9%)

0.013

 Anorexia

39 (3.8%)

27 (3.3%)

12 (5.8%)

0.399

 Rash

12 (1.1%)

9 (1.1%)

3 (1.5%)

0.470

 Dizziness

18 (1.8%)

5 (0.6%)

13 (6.3%)

0.024

Time from exposure to the onset of illness (days)

5.39 ± 3.8 (1–15)

5.98 ± 3.96 (1–14)

4.49 ± 3.5 (2–15)

0.041

Time from illness onset to first hospital admission (days)

5.99 ± 3.9 (1–30)

5.97 ± 3.7 (1–22)

6.04 ± 4.45 (1–30)

0.646