English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Dear Editor, A meta-analysis done by Guo that was published in Tobacco Induced Diseases, reported a pooled odds ratio of 2.20, concluding that active smoking is significantly associated with the risk of severe COVID-19. Another current meta-analysis reported greater odds of COVID-19 progression among smokers compared to never smokers. Most of the studies in these meta-analyses were from China and focused only on cigarette smoking. Here, we describe characteristics of tobacco use among 193 confirmed COVID-19 patients who were interviewed during their hospitalization from 15 March to 15 April 2020, in the Imam-Khomeini Hospital of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences (ArUMS) in Iran. The protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences (Approval ID: IR.ARUMS.REC.1399.044) and verbal informed consent was obtained from the patients. All patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by nasopharyngeal swabs using real-time reverse-transcription-polymerase-chain-reaction (rRTPCR) assay; they were at least 18 years old and willing to participate in an approximately 5-min interview. Interviews were administrated in the first two days of hospitalization to collect information regarding demographics, COVID-19-associated symptoms, and use of tobacco products including waterpipe (WP, hookah), cigarettes, and e-cigarettes. As shown in Table 1, 15 (7.8%) and 14 (7.3%) of the patients reported current (past-month) WP or cigarette use, respectively. No patients were dual WP/cigarette or e-cigarette users. Of the 14 cigarette smokers, 2 had cardiovascular disease (CVD), 1 chronic respiratory illness, 1 diabetes, 2 other conditions (e.g. kidney illness or rheumatoid arthritis), and 4 reported having >1 chronic condition. Among 15 WP smokers, 3 reported having CVD, 1 other condition, and 2 having >1 chronic condition. The average time between the onset of symptoms and hospitalization was approximately 4 days for WP smokers, 3 days for cigarette smokers, and 5 days for neversmokers. More than half (n=8) of cigarette smokers and 40% (n=6) of WP smokers reported their COVID-19 symptoms as severe compared to 22% (n=36) of never-smokers. In line with a previous report, the most common COVID-19 symptoms were fever and dry cough, which did not differ significantly between smokers (cigarettes or WP) and never-smokers. However, shortness of breath was reported more frequently by cigarette smokers compared to never-smokers and WP smokers. Body pain was reported more frequently among WP smokers compared to cigarette smokers and never-smokers. AFFILIATION 1 Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, United States 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Division, School of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran 3 Department of Kinesiology, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, United States 4 Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Memphis, Memphis, United States 5 Public Health Department, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran 6 Environmental Health Department, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran 7 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 8 Nursing and Midwifery, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran

Descriptive characteristics of hospitalized adult smokers and never-smokers with COVID-19