Short-term Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma in Three Tertiary Level Hospitals in Bangladesh

Background: Several comorbidities including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or bronchial asthma have been found associated with COVID-19 cases. But it remains unclear which of the comorbidities are associated with worse outcomes of the patients. Objectives: This study was carried out to determine the clinical outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with COPD or asthma. Methodology: This prospective study was carried out at Respiratory Medicine unit of Monno Medical College and Hospital, Manikganj, from April 2020 to December 2022. Admitted COVID-19 patients, suffering from COPD or bronchial asthma, were enrolled purposively upon fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The patients were divided into two groups with associated comorbidities: Group A suffering from COPD and Group B suffering from Asthma. Data were collected from the patients on variables of interest using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Among the 144 enrolled patients, 96(66.67%) in group A were suffering from COPD and the other 48 (33.33%) in group B had bronchial asthma. In this study, 41(42.7%) patients in Group A exhibited >25% lung field involvement in the high-resolution computed tomography (CT) chest imaging, compared to only 10(20.8%) in COVID-19 patients in Group B, and this difference in distribution was statistically significant (p=0.026). The COVID-19 patients in Group A were more severe to critically ill (45, 46.9%), compared to patients in Group B (12, 25.0%) with a p value of 0.011. Group A study subjects required intensive care unit (ICU) admission (49, 51.0%) more than the group B participants (16, 33.3%), which was also found statistically significant (p<0.05). Nearly one-fifth (17, 17.7%) of the patients died among the Group A, compared to only 2(4.2%) mortality observed in Group B (p=0.024). The COVID-19 patients with COPD were found significantly associated with the risk of >25% lung field involvement, severe to critical illness, ICU admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and death (all p values <0.05). Conclusion: The comorbidity of COPD was found to increase the risk of disease severity and adverse outcomes in COVID-19patients significantly. It also heightened the risk of lung field involvement, exceeding 25% more severe disease and increased mortality rates compared to individuals with bronchial asthma. Journal of Monno Medical College December, 2023; 9 (2):47-52