Abstract
Objective: This study aims to investigate the association between smoking and the severity of COVID-19 infection during the initial wave of this pandemic in Malaysia.
Methods: This is a multi-center observational study using secondary hospital data collected retrospectively from February 1, 2020, until May 30, 2020. Clinical records of all real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 cases with smoking status, co-morbidities, clinical features, and disease management were retrieved. Severity was assessed by the presence of complications and outcomes of COVID-19 infection. Logistic regression was used to determine the association between COVID-19 disease severity and smoking status.
Results: A total of 5,889 COVID-19 cases were included in the analysis. Ever smokers had a higher risk of having COVID-19 complications, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (odds ratio [OR] 1.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-2.55), renal injury (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.10-2.14), and acute liver injury (OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.01-1.74), compared with never smokers. However, in terms of disease outcomes, there were no differences between the two groups.
Conclusion: Although no significant association was found in terms of disease outcomes, smoking is associated with a higher risk of having complications owing to COVID-19 infection.
Keywords: COVID-19; Malaysia; Smoking; complications; disease outcome; severity.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, severity, smoking, Malaysia, complications, disease outcome, 【초록키워드】 pandemic, severity, hospital, Infection, outcome, COVID-19 complications, Clinical features, outcomes, COVID-19 infection, severity of COVID-19, management, Complication, smoking status, disease, co-morbidities, Smokers, association, acute respiratory distress, Analysis, Injury, Odds ratio, clinical record, smoker, Acute liver injury, two groups, higher risk, 95% CI, 95% confidence interval, COVID-19 case, no difference, syndrome, COVID-19 disease severity, renal, polymerase chain, initial, was used, collected, determine, retrieved,