Data collection
Demographic, clinical, and outcome data were collected by using a prespecified case report form. Comorbidities were defined according to a modified Charlson comorbidity index.10 Comorbidities collected were chronic cardiac disease, chronic respiratory disease (excluding asthma), chronic renal disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate ≤30), mild to severe liver disease, dementia, chronic neurological conditions, connective tissue disease, diabetes mellitus (diet, tablet, or insulin controlled), HIV or AIDS, and malignancy. These conditions were selected a priori by a global consortium to provide rapid, coordinated clinical investigation of patients presenting with any severe or potentially severe acute infection of public interest and enabled standardisation.
Clinician defined obesity was also included as a comorbidity owing to its probable association with adverse outcomes in patients with covid-19.1112 The clinical information used to calculate prognostic scores was taken from the day of admission to hospital.13 A practical approach was taken to sample size requirements.14 We used all available data to maximise the power and generalisability of our results. Model reliability was assessed by using a temporally distinct validation cohort with geographical subsetting, together with sensitivity analyses.