This retrospective single-center cohort study explored the impact of COVID-19 vaccination status on CT-graphic pulmonary manifestations in hospitalized patients. The study population included patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection who had been hospitalized in a maximum care hospital. Patients receiving a chest CT performed within the study time window between July 1, 2021, and February 14, 2022, were consecutively included in the study. Vaccination status served as the exposure of interest, and CT-graphic pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19 infection served as outcome variables.
For inclusion criteria, patients must have had at least one positive RT-PCR testing of nasal or throat swab and at least one chest CT examination during hospitalization. Exclusion criteria were missing data on vaccination status, partial vaccination status, ARDS, and patients under 18.
The study was approved by the Institutional Research Ethics Board of the Medical Faculty of the Albert-Ludwig-University Freiburg, and the Helsinki declaration on human research was met. Vaccination status was divided into three categories: non-vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and fully vaccinated.
Qualitative and semi-quantitative data of chest CT evaluation according to vaccination status were analyzed, and a multiple logistic regression with outcome CT-graphic pulmonary manifestations was calculated. The analyses were adjusted for age, pre-existing diseases, virus variant, and stage of infection.
Krippendorff’s alpha reliability estimate was used to assess inter- and intrareader variability. All analyses were conducted using R 4.2.0.
