Clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 presenting with gastrointestinal symptoms as initial symptoms: Retrospective case series

Table 1 Characteristics of recruited patients

Parameter	PS group	GS group	t/χ2	P value
Age (yr)	42.47 ± 3.25	44.56 ± 2.78	-0.02	0.98
Gender (%)			0.01	0.94
Female	12 (44.4)	10 (43.5)
Male	15 (55.6)	13 (56.5)
BMI	23.56 ± 1.78	23.82 ± 1.63	-0.68	0.61
Comorbidities
Hypertension	1	2	0.55	0.46
Cardiovascular disease	1	1	0.01	0.91
Diabetes	1	1	0.01	0.91
COPD	2	1	0,21	0.65
Chronic liver disease	1	1	0.01	0.91
Oxygenation index	352.56 ± 12.63	348.72 ± 11.67	0.61	0.56
Mean arterial pressure	78.56 ± 3.65	76.34 ± 2.96	-0.56	0.58
Time from symptoms onset to hospital admission (d)	3.62 ± 1.23	3.78 ± 1.36	0.35	0.74
Days of viral shedding	8.15 ± 1.87	10.22 ± 1.93	-3.25	0.01a
Duration days	10.00 ± 2.13	12.13 ± 2.44	-3.22	0.01a
Smokers (%)	8 (29.6)	14 (60.9)	4.92	0.03a
Temperature on admission	37.00 ± 2.67	37.19 ± 2.67	-2.42	0.02a
Treatment in hospital			4.06	0.04a
Nasal cannula	3	8
No nasal cannula	24	15

^aP < 0.05 indicates a statistically significant difference. PS: Pulmonary symptoms; GS: Gastrointestinal symptoms; BMI: Body mass index; COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Table 2 Laboratory results

	PS group	GS group	t/χ2	P value
White blood cells, × 109/mL	6.32 ± 1.26	6.85 ± 1.37	0.62	0.55
Lymphocytes, × 109/mL	1.04 ± 0.15	0.94 ± 0.06	2.91	0.01a
Haemoglobin, g/L	122.37 ± 5.78	120 ± 6.32	0.73	0.67
Platelet count, × 109/L	212 ± 8.96	208 ± 7.45	0.78	0.72
AST, U/L	31.45 ± 4.62	30.16 ± 3.98	0.66	0.59
ALT, U/L	30.57 ± 4.13	29.66 ± 4.02	0.82	0.75
Prealbumin, mg/L	127.63 ± 7.03	123.70 ± 6.17	2.10	0.04a
< 130	7	13	4.84	0.02a
> 130	20	10
Albumin, g/L	36.42 ± 3.65	36.12 ± 2.97	0.75	0.69
Globulin, g/L	25.42 ± 3.11	24.66 ± 2.92	0.83	0.77
Urea, mmol/L	4.12 ± 1.01	4.89 ± 0.96	-1.98	0.57
Creatinine, μmol/L	68.71 ± 6.46	71.36 ± 5.4	-2.03	0.42
Glucose, mM	5.99 ± 1.02	5.73 ± 0.95	0.78	0.72
CK-MB, U/L	18.44 ± 4.61	17.12 ± 3.89	0.89	0.87
LDH, U/L	135.66 ± 6.41	133.96 ± 5.78	0.81	0.74
Procalcitonin, ng/mL	0.06 ± 0.02	0.09 ± 0.03	-2.82	0.01a
> 0.05	20	10	4.84	0.02a
< 0.05	7	13
hs-CRP, mg/L	54.70 ± 17.13	68.91 ± 19.08	-2.77	0.01a
Prothrombin time, s	13.23 ± 0.56	13.67 ± 0.52	-2.87	0.01a
D-dimer, μg/mL	0.42 ± 0.11	0.56 ± 0.13	-2.79	0.01a
< 0.5	17	8	3.95	0.04a
> 0.5	10	15

^aP < 0.05 indicates a statistically significant difference. PS: Pulmonary symptoms; GS: Gastrointestinal symptoms; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; CK-MB: Creatine kinase, MB Form; LDH: Lactate dehydrogenase; hs-CRP: Hypersensitive C-reactive protein.