The following is a summary of “Multiple manifestations of uncontrolled asthma increase the risk of severe COVID-19,” published in the June 2023 issue of Pulmonology by Selberg, et al.
For a study, researchers sought to investigate the associations between clinical characteristics, multiple manifestations of uncontrolled asthma, and the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes.
Using data from the Swedish National Airway Register (SNAR) from 2014 to 2020, adult patients with uncontrolled asthma were identified based on an Asthma Control Test (ACT) score of ≤19 (n = 24,533). The SNAR database, which includes clinical information, was linked with national registers to identify patients who developed severe COVID-19 (n = 221). The effect of multiple manifestations of uncontrolled asthma was assessed based on three criteria: ACT score ≤15, frequent exacerbations, and previous asthma-related inpatient or secondary care visits. Poisson regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between these manifestations and the risk of severe COVID-19, with severe COVID-19 as the dependent variable.
Among patients with uncontrolled asthma, obesity emerged as the strongest independent risk factor for severe COVID-19 in both sexes, with a greater impact in men. The prevalence of multiple manifestations of uncontrolled asthma was higher among patients with severe COVID-19 compared to those without one manifestation (45.7% vs. 42.3%), two manifestations (18.1% vs. 9.1%), and three manifestations (5.0% vs. 2.1%). The risk ratio (RR) for severe COVID-19 increased with the number of manifestations of uncontrolled asthma: one manifestation, RR 1.49 (95% CI 1.09-2.02); two manifestations, RR 2.42 (95% CI 1.64-3.57); and three manifestations, RR 2.96 (95% CI 1.57-5.60), after adjusting for sex, age, and BMI.
When evaluating patients with COVID-19, it was crucial to consider the presence of multiple manifestations of uncontrolled asthma and obesity, as they significantly increase the risk of severe outcomes.
Source: resmedjournal.com/article/S0954-6111(23)00196-8/fulltext
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