S58\u2005The impact of smoking on symptom and radiological severity at COVID-19 follow up

Abstract

S58 Table 1Patient characteristics for smokers and never smokers with follow up dataVariable (%)Never-smokersEx/current SmokersP - valueN356181-DemographicsAge *(years)60 ± 1665 ± 16<0 0001Male Sex (%)212 (60)122 (67)0 076Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) (%)183 (51)63 (35)< 0001ComorbiditiesHypertension155 (44)68 (38)0 382Ischaemic Heart Disease32 (9)25 (14)0 088Diabetes93 (26)41 (23)0 392Respiratory Background65 (18)45 (25)0 073Hospital AdmissionAdmission NEWS2 Score4 (2–6)5 (2–6 25)0 838Intensive Care Admission39 (11)24 (13 3)0 462Symptom Burden at follow upBreathlessness rating 0–100 (0–2)1 (0–3)0 037Cough rating 0–100 (0–1)0 (0–1)0 594Fatigue rating 0–102 (0–5)2 (0–5)0 933How close to 100% do they feel90 (75–100)90 (75–100)0 969Returned to Work92/179 (51)40/133 (30)0 013MRC Dyspnoea scale (1–5)1 (1–2)2 (1–3)0 005CXR at follow upNormal (%)86/120 (72)43/69 (62)0 184Significantly improved (%)25/120 (21)19/69 (28)0 294Unchanged (%)01/69 (2)0 186Significantly Worsened (%)9/120 (8)6/69 (5)0 770*normally distributed parametric data with mean and standard deviationAll other scale data was non-parametric with median and interquartile ranges shownAbbreviations: NEWS2 (National Early Warning Score 2);MRC (Medical Research Council)ConclusionIn this large clinical cohort, ex/current smokers had significantly increased self-reported breathlessness at follow-up These results should be interpreted with caution as the burden of breathlessness prior to admission is unknown Interestingly, there were no significant differences in other symptoms, nor any differences in radiology findings Further work is required to understand the mechanisms underlying these findings in order to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 in current/ex smokers We should continue to routinely and optimally treat current smokers for their tobacco dependence ReferenceZhao Q , et al J Med Virol 2020 Apr 15