Smoking and COVID-19: Increased Risk of Severe Complications

A new study based on data from the American Heart Association's COVID-19 cardiovascular disease registry has revealed that individuals who smoked or vaped before being hospitalized with COVID-19 are more likely to experience severe complications and even death from SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to those who did not smoke or vape. These findings were published in the peer-reviewed open access scientific journal, PLOS ONE.

Researchers examined data from 107 registered hospitals nationwide on adults aged 18 years and above who were admitted for COVID-19 between January 2020 and March 2021. Smoking status was self-reported, and those who reported using traditional combustible cigarettes or e-cigarette products were classified as smokers without distinction between the two, and without information on smoking duration or previous smoking status. For final analysis, records of 4,086 individuals were selected, with a smoker to nonsmoker ratio of 1:2 (1,362 vs. 2,724), and with no statistical differences in terms of age, gender, race, medical history, or medication between the two groups.

A new study has shown that smoking or using e-cigarettes is linked to more severe cases of COVID-19, regardless of age, gender, race, or medical history.

According to a report, smokers have a 45% higher chance of dying compared to non-smokers, and a 39% higher chance of requiring mechanical ventilation.

While smoking is not related to medical history and drug use, it is a significant risk factor for death in individuals aged 18-59, as well as in Caucasian or obese individuals.

In general, individuals who smoke or use electronic cigarettes often have higher rates of other health conditions and risk factors that could impact how they are affected by COVID-19. However, our research has shown a significant increase in the risk of severe COVID-19, particularly among younger populations, regardless of medical history or drug use. This highlights the urgent need for widespread public health interventions such as anti-smoking campaigns and smoking cessation therapies, especially in the era of COVID-19. "These findings provide the most compelling evidence to date that smokers or users of electronic cigarettes are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 and dying from SARS-CoV-2 infection," said Dr. Aruni Bhatnagar, FAHA, senior author of the study and professor of medicine, biochemistry, and molecular biology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Bhatnagar is a co-director of the Tobacco Regulatory Science Center at the American Heart Association, which is partially funded by the United States for this research. The research grants are from the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.

Sandeep R stated, "We established a COVID-19 CVD registry early in the pandemic to better understand the connection between COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases, particularly in identifying increased risk, in order to provide information to diagnose and care for those at highest risk for complications.

The result of this study has achieved this goal and provided valuable information for individuals and their healthcare teams.

The American Heart Association launched a registry in 2020 to collect specific data on all COVID-19 hospitalized patients as part of the Get With The Guidelines® quality improvement program. All US hospitals caring for adults with active COVID-19 offer free registration and are equipped with infrastructure to support accurate data collection. Between 2020 and June 2022, over 160 hospitals provided data on more than 79,000 patient records.

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