Statistical analysis
Results were expressed as medians with their interquartile ranges (IQR) and frequency (%) for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Assessment of differences between inpatients and outpatients was performed using Chi-squared test, or Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables, and Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables.
In addition, selected variables from the demographic, clinical presentation, inflammatory markers, and all significant immune-subsets were subjected to a univariable logistic regression with the composite outcome of ICU admission and mortality in the first 30 days. Variables significant in the univariable analyses (p <0.05) were assessed using multivariable logistic regression to determine the independent predictors of the mentioned outcome.
An alpha threshold of 0.05 was used for statistical significance. Statistical analysis was performed using R studio (RStudio Team (2016). RStudio (Version 1.1.456): Integrated Development for R. RStudio, Inc., Boston, MA URL).