Impact of Covid19 on chronic respiratory diseases

Abstract Introduction This study was created to test the hypothesis that Covid19 pandemic may have influenced the increase in chronic respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, COPD, and mixed forms. This aspect does not seem to have been investigated previously in the literature. Methods The study population consisted of all residents in the province of Grosseto in the two study years (2019 and 2022) aged over 17 and under 90 (n. 368,326). For each of them, the presence of chronic lung disease (OUTCOME), Covid 19 positivity (between 2019 and 2022), age, sex, and Charlson index were reported in the database. To test the effect of the study variables on the identified outcomes (asthma, COPD, and mixed forms), a single-variable statistical analysis was conducted, followed by multiple logistic regression in which, in addition to the main variable, sex, age, and Charlson index were included to adjust the results, using STATA Vers. 17.0 Be-Basic Edition Results Multivariate statistical analyses showed that those who had COVID between 2019 and 2022 had a 75% higher risk of taking asthma therapy than those who did not (OR 1.75, p < 0. 001); all other variables were also significantly correlated with the outcome: fewer people were taking asthma therapy in the year 2022 than in 2019 (OR 0.89, p < 0.001); men had a lower risk (OR 0.79, p < 0.001); and those who had a higher CI had a higher risk (3.43, p < 0.001). In the study sample, 2.69% took asthma medication in the study years. Conclusions The Covid19 pandemic has had a significant impact on chronic respiratory diseases, especially asthma; patients with higher age and more comorbidities are more likely to develop asthma; males have a lower risk than females, and these data do not seem to have been analyzed in the scientific literature. Key messages • The Covid19 pandemic has had a significant impact on chronic respiratory diseases. • Patients with higher age and more comorbidities are more likely to develop asthma.