Associated factors and chronic comorbidities among children who were admitted to hospital because of COVID-19
| Characteristic | No. (%) of children admitted to hospital because of COVID-19 | p value† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical presentation* | |||
| Nonsevere disease n = 75 | Severe disease n = 75 | ||
| Born premature (< 37 wk)‡ | < 5 (< 7.1) | 8 (11.6) | 0.2 |
| Any comorbid condition | 20 (26.7) | 39 (52.0) | 0.001 |
| Chronic encephalopathy with severe neurodisability§ | < 5 (< 6.7) | 10 (13.3) | 0.005 |
| Obesity | < 5 (< 6.7) | 10 (13.3) | 0.04 |
| Asthma | < 5 (< 6.7) | 9 (12.0) | 0.07 |
| Chronic lung disease (excluding asthma) | < 5 (< 6.7) | 9 (12.0) | 0.009 |
| Epilepsy | < 5 (< 6.7) | 9 (12.0) | 0.03 |
| Gastrointestinal or liver disease | < 5 (< 6.7) | 7 (9.3) | 0.2 |
| Neurodevelopmental disorders§ | < 5 (< 6.7) | 6 (8.0) | 0.7 |
| Chronic renal disease | < 5 (< 6.7) | < 5 (< 6.7) | – |
| Immunosuppression | < 5 (< 6.7) | < 5 (< 6.7) | – |
| Metabolic disease | < 5 (< 6.7) | < 5 (< 6.7) | – |
| Other congenital anomalies | < 5 (< 6.7) | < 5 (< 6.7) | – |
| Other neurologic condition§ | < 5 (< 6.7) | < 5 (< 6.7) | – |
| Sickle cell or other hematologic condition | < 5 (< 6.7) | < 5 (< 6.7) | – |
| Malignant disease | < 5 (< 6.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0.5 |
| Solid organ transplant | < 5 (< 6.7) | 0 (0.0) | 1.0 |
| Congenital heart disease | 0 (0.0) | < 5 (< 6.7) | 0.2 |
| Diabetes | 0 (0.0) | < 5 (< 6.7) | 0.5 |
| Tracheostomy | 0 (0.0) | < 5 (< 6.7) | 1.0 |
| Bone marrow transplant | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | – |
| Inflammatory bowel disease | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | – |
| Psychiatric condition | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | – |
| Concurrent infection | 0.2 | ||
| Infection explains some or all COVID-19 symptoms | < 5 (< 6.7) | 7 (9.3) | – |
| Concurrent infection is deemed to be incidental and all symptoms explained by COVID-19 | < 5 (< 6.7) | 5 (6.7) | – |
↵* We defined clinical presentation using criteria modified from Dong et al.15 Nonsevere disease combines mild and moderate illness; severe disease combines severe and critical illness.
↵† We conducted statistical tests between the nonsevere and severe disease groups. We show p values only for cases in which at least 1 exact frequency is presented.
↵‡ Prematurity status was known for 139 children (including 70 nonsevere and 69 severe cases).
↵§ Chronic encephalopathy with severe neurodisability includes conditions causing substantial motor (i.e., Palisano gross motor function classification system 5) and cognitive impairments. Neurodevelopmental disorders include conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder and trisomy 21. Other neurologic conditions were those that we did not otherwise categorize as as chronic encephalopathy, metabolic, neurodevelopmental or psychiatric.