Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
2
Clinical Research Development Unit, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
3
Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences,
4
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran
LBL_COMMENTED_AT/ijhr.2022.322049.1506
Abstract
Background and objective: People with asthma are generally more susceptible to respiratory infections than the general population. As a result, patients with asthma are presumed to be at a higher risk of COVID-19 and health complications during the current pandemic. However, the relationship between asthma and COVID-19 remains unclear.
Method:This cross-sectional study was done in Imam Hossein hospital of Shahroud. Considering the prevalence of 4.7% of asthma in Iran , the confidence interval of 95% and the power of 80%, 93 patients were entered in the study.. Based on pre-existing asthma, the study population was divided into two groups; the COVID-19 patients with asthma and the COVID-19 patients without asthma. Lastly, the study compared the groups in terms of clinical course and laboratory findings. Patients with a history of smoking, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, COPD, and hypertension were excluded from the study.
Results: Among 93 COVID-19 patients, mean lymphocyte count (mean±SD=2.1±1.1, p-value=0.001) and serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) level (mean±SD=34.3±19.5, p-value=0.001) were higher in the patients without asthma. By contrast, asthma patients had a higher prevalence of heart rate disorders (27%, p value=0.04 ), positive C-reactive protein (CRP) results (40%, p value=0.0001). Also, a significantly higher frequency of high diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was present in the asthma group (p-value= 0.02). Other variables did not show any significant association.
Conclusion: Patients with mild to moderate asthma were not significantly different from non-asthmatic patients in terms of severity of the disease.
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