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. 2022 Sep-Oct;140(5):651-657.
doi: 10.1590/1516-3180.2021.0403.R2.15122021.

In-hospital severe COVID-19 in a philanthropic tertiary hospital setting: is asthma a concern? A retrospective study

Gabriela Accetta Rojas  1 , Flávia Nascimento Ost  1 , Roberto Stirbulov  2 , Ozíris Simões  3
Affiliations

In-hospital severe COVID-19 in a philanthropic tertiary hospital setting: is asthma a concern? A retrospective study

Gabriela Accetta Rojas et al. Sao Paulo Med J. 2022 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Background: The frequency of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases among asthmatics has been reported to be reduced. However, the findings regarding the association between asthma and the risk of severe COVID-19 have been divergent.

Objective: To investigate whether asthma is associated with a reduced risk of development of severe COVID-19.

Design and setting: Retrospective analysis on COVID-19 surveillance databases at two tertiary-level hospitals in São Paulo, Brazil.

Methods: The medical records of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 between March and August 2020 were reviewed in accordance with the clinical, laboratorial, radiological and epidemiological criteria for COVID-19, and for comorbidities.

Results: Among the adult patients included (> 18 years of age) there were 52 asthmatics and 1,318 non-asthmatics. Their median ages and interquartile ranges (IQR) were, respectively, 54 (41-69) and 60 (44-72) years. At least one comorbidity was seen in 73% of asthmatics and 56% of the non-asthmatics. Among the asthmatics, most presented mild asthma (92%) and the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was high (27%). The asthmatics presented an unadjusted odds ratio (OR) for severe COVID-19 of 0.89 (95% confidence interval, CI 0.5-1.56); and OR 0.88 (95% CI 0.5 -1.68) after multivariable adjustment. Age > 60 years, male sex, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and homelessness were covariates associated with increased odds for severe COVID-19. Kaplan-Meier estimated survival over hospitalization of up to 30 days did not differ between the groups (log-rank P = 0.09).

Conclusions: The association between asthma and decreased risk of severe COVID-19 or increased survival was statistically non-significant.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: All authors declare that they did not have any conflict of interest

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Risk of death due to COVID-19.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Survival over 30 days of hospitalization.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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