Methods:
This was a retrospective cohort study. We researched the EPIC system of
the Beaumont Health system, Michigan for subjects who were admitted to
the eight Beaumont hospitals and tested positive for COVID-19 from
February 1st to April 30th 2020. We
included only COVID-19 patients who have hypertension diagnoses in their
charts. We excluded subjects with missing information on one of the
possible predictor factors (BMI) (figure 2). We followed subjects for
thirty days after admission. The two primary outcomes were 30 days
COVID-19 mortality and ICU admission rates. We used ICU admission rate
as a marker of COVID-19 severity. We defined ICU admission as admission
to intensive care units or progressive care units (PCU)since the
admission criteria for both units include the use of invasive or
non-invasive ventilatory support or vasopressors which indicate severe
disease.