Table 5

Association of abnormal liver test results with severity of the COVID-19 infection adjusted for age, gender and comorbidities

	ICU admission			COVID-19-related death			Composite endpoint of severe outcome†
	OR	95% CI	P value	OR	95% CI	P value	OR	95% CI	P value
Liver biochemistry abnormality‡	2.99	1.52 to 5.88	0.002*	1.22	0.46 to 3.23	0.69	2.51	1.30 to 4.82	0.006 *
AST elevation	3.43	1.75 to 6.72	<0.001*	0.90	0.35 to 2.34	0.83	2.54	1.33 to 4.84	0.005 *
ALT elevation	3.01	1.51 to 5.99	0.002 *	0.90	0.29 to 2.75	0.85	2.10	1.07 to 4.11	0.030 *
TBIL elevation	0.76	0.18 to 3.15	0.76	4.80	1.14 to 20.16	0.032 *	1.32	0.35 to 4.99	0.68
GGT elevation	2.06	1.08 to 3.92	0.028 *	1.33	0.48 to 3.71	0.58	1.57	0.84 to 2.95	0.16
Hypoalbuminaemia	13.95	5.72 to 34.03	<0.001 *	1.76	0.61 to 5.10	0.30	9.95	4.40 to 22.78	<0.001 *
Hypoalbuminaemia and any liver biochemistry abnormality	24.13	8.61 to 67.60	<0.001 *	2.02	0.74 to 5.51	0.17	17.84	6.57 to 48.41	<0.001 *
Hypoalbuminaemia and AST elevation	46.22	13.33 to 160.29	<0.001 *	2.29	0.84 to 6.22	0.10	42.04	11.08 to 159.57	<0.001 *
Hypoalbuminaemia and ALT elevation	20.37	5.34 to 77.73	<0.001 *	1.10	0.31 to 3.90	0.89	12.39	3.37 to 45.54	<0.001 *
Hypoalbuminaemia and TBIL elevation	2.40	0.34 to 16.81	0.38	9.64	1.35 to 68.96	0.024 *	4.46	0.46 to 47.25	0.20
Hypoalbuminaemia and GGT elevation	38.82	8.31 to 181.35	<0.001 *	2.10	0.66 to 6.73	0.21	26.85	5.82 to 123.89	<0.001 *

Stated are the OR for liver biochemistry parameters at admission (adjustment for age, gender and arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease and previous myocardial infarction).
*Bold values show a statistical significance (p≤0.05).
†The composite endpoint is comprised of ICU admission and/or COVID-19-related death.
‡Liver biochemistry abnormalities included ALT, AST, GGT, ALP and TBIL but not albumin.
ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; GGT, gamma-glutamyltransferase; ; ICU, intensive care unit; TBIL, total bilirubin.