Asthma Among Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 and Related Outcomes

Abstract

Background: Several underlying conditions have been associated with severe SARS-CoV2 illness, but the role of asthma as a comorbidity is not completely understood. Given the high prevalence of asthma in the New York City area, we investigated hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 disease and the impact of asthma on disease outcomes. Methods: Electronic heath records were reviewed for 1,298 sequential patients age < 65 years without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who were admitted to our hospital system with a confirmed positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Results: The overall prevalence of asthma among all hospitalized patients with COVI-19 was 12·6%, yet a higher prevalence (23·6%) was observed in the subset 55 patients <21 years of age. There was no significant difference in hospital length of stay, need for intubation, length of intubation, tracheostomy tube placement, hospital readmission or mortality between asthmatic vs. non-asthmatic patients. Observations between asthmatic and non-asthmatic patients were similar when stratified by obesity, other comorbid conditions (i.e. hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes), use of controller asthma medication and absolute eosinophil count. Conclusions: Among hospitalized patients < 65 years with severe COVID-19, asthma diagnosis was not associated with worse outcomes, regardless of age, obesity, or other high-risk comorbidities. Future population based studies are needed to investigate the risk of developing COVID-19 among patients with asthma once universal testing becomes readily available. Funding Statement: K01 HL140216, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – Amos Medical Faculty Development Award Program. Declaration of Interests: The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. Deepti R. Deshpande: Spouse employed by Bristol Myers Squibb. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by the institutional review board of Columbia University Irving Medical Center under expedited review with a waiver of consent.