Association between incubation period and clinical characteristics of patients with COVID-19

PURPOSE: To investigate associations between the clinical characteristics and incubation periods of patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China. METHODS: Complete clinical and epidemiological data from 149 patients with COVID-19 at a hospital in Hunan Province, China, were collected and retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Analysis of the distribution and receiver operator characteristic curve of incubation periods showed that 7 days was the optimal cut-off value to assess differences in disease severity between groups. Patients with shorter (≤7 days) incubation periods (n = 79) had more severe disease, longer durations of hospitalization, longer times from symptom onset to discharge, more abnormal laboratory findings, and more severe radiological findings than patients with longer (>7 days) incubation periods. Regression and correlation analyses also showed that a shorter incubation period was associated with longer times from symptom onset to discharge. CONCLUSION: The associations between the incubation periods and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients suggest that the incubation period may be a useful marker of disease severity and prognosis.