Bronchiectasis and pneumonia-hospitalization risk: The impact of social distancing measures – A cohort study

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Patients with bronchiectasis are at high risk of community acquired pneumonia. It remains unclear if this risk is reduced by social distancing (SD) measures. <b>Methods:</b> Nationwide registry study with data from patients with specialist verified bronchiectasis between 1 January 2019 and 20 May 2020. Pneumonia hospitalisation was the primary outcome. Patients with COVID-19 and age &lt; 18 were excluded. The incidence of pneumonia hospitalisations in the SD period (12 March 2020 to 20&nbsp;May 2020) was compared to the same period in 2019 (control period). <b>Results:</b> A total of 672 patients with bronchiectasis were followed in the SD period and the control period. Median age was 68, and 36% were males. During the SD intervention, 7 incidents of pneumonia hospitalisation were observed, compared to 31 during the control period (Fig. 1). The corresponding incidence rate ratio was 0.24 (95% confidence interval: 0.17 to 0.33, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). 6/642 (0.9%) patients died during the SD period&nbsp;compared to 8/672 (1.2%) during control period (<i>p</i> = 0.9). <b>Conclusion:</b> The social distancing intervention was associated with a substantially lower incidence of pneumonia-hospitalizations among patients with bronchiectasis. Hygienic measures as used during SD are important in preventing serious life-threatening infections like pneumonias that require hospitalisation. <b>Fig. 1:</b> Incidence of pneumonia hospitalisations.