Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38655241›Full record

ArticleCanada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada2024

Evolution of illness severity in hospital admissions due to COVID-19, Québec, Canada, January to April 2022.

Ernest Lo, Élise Fortin, Rodica Gilca, Pierre-Luc Trépanier, Hany Geagea, Zhou Zhou

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 42% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Physical impairments in individuals with Long COVID.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Ernest LoInstitut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, QC.
Élise FortinInstitut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, QC.
Rodica GilcaInstitut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, QC.
Pierre-Luc TrépanierInstitut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, QC.
Hany GeageaInstitut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, QC.
Zhou ZhouInstitut national de santé publique du Québec, Québec, QC.
Institut National de Santé Publique · CIMcGill University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity is influenced by multiple factors, such as age, underlying medical conditions, individual immunity, infecting variant, and clinical practice. The highly transmissible Omicron variants resulted in decreased COVID-19 screening capacity, which limited disease severity surveillance. Objective: To report on the temporal evolution of disease severity among patients admitted to Québec hospitals due to COVID-19 between January 2, 2022, and April 23, 2022, which corresponded to the peak period of hospitalizations due to Omicron. Methods: Retrospective population-based cohort study of all hospital admissions due to COVID-19 in Québec, between January 2, 2022, and April 23, 2022. Study period was divided into four-week periods, corresponding roughly to January, February, March and April. Regression using Cox and Poisson generalized estimating equations (GEEs) was used to quantify temporal variations in length of stay and risk of complications (intensive care admission or in-hospital death) through time, using the Omicron peak (January 2022) as reference. Measures were adjusted for age, sex, vaccination status, presence of chronic diseases, and clustering by hospital. Results: During the study period, 9,178 of all 18,272 (50.2%) patients hospitalized with a COVID-19 diagnosis were admitted due to COVID-19. Of these, 1,026 (11.2%) were admitted to intensive care and 1,523 (16.6%) died. Compared to January, the risk of intensive care admission was 25% and 31% lower in March and April respectively, while in-hospital fatality continuously decreased by 45% lower in April. The average length of stay was temporarily lower in March (9%). Conclusion: Severity of admissions due to COVID-19 decreased in the first months of 2022, when predominant circulating variants were considered to be of similar severity. Monitoring hospital admissions due to COVID-19 can contribute to disease severity surveillance.

Indexed as

COVID-19hospitalizationsseveritysurveillance

Identifiers

PMID38655241
PMCPMC11037885
OpenAlexW4392281667

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.