TY - JOUR
TI - Effect of COVID-19-Related Lockdown on Hospital Admissions for Asthma
and COPD Exacerbations: Associations with Air Pollution and Patient
Characteristics
AU - Sigala, Ioanna
AU - Giannakas, Timoleon
AU - Giannakoulis, Vassilis G. and
AU - Zervas, Efthimios
AU - Brinia, Aikaterini
AU - Gianiou, Niki
AU - Asimakos,
AU - Andreas
AU - Dima, Efi
AU - Kalomenidis, Ioannis
AU - Katsaounou, Paraskevi
JO - International Journal of Person-Centered Medicine
PY - 2021
VL - 11
TODO - 9
SP - null
PB - MDPI
SN - 2043-7730, 2043-7749
TODO - 10.3390/jpm11090867
TODO - COVID-19; SARS-SoV-2; hospital admissions; COPD exacerbation; asthma
exacerbation; air pollution
TODO - We conducted a retrospective observational study to assess the
hospitalization rates for acute exacerbations of asthma and COPD
(chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) during the first imposed
lockdown in Athens, Greece. Patient characteristics and the
concentration of eight air pollutants [namely, NO (nitrogen monoxide),
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), CO (carbon monoxide), PM2.5 (particulate matter
2.5), PM10 (particulate matter 10), O-3 (ozone), SO2 (sulfur dioxide)
and benzene] were considered. A total of 153 consecutive hospital
admissions were studied. Reduced admissions occurred in the Lockdown
period compared to the Pre-lockdown 2020 (p < 0.001) or the Control 2019
(p = 0.007) period. Furthermore, the concentration of 6/8 air pollutants
positively correlated with weekly hospital admissions in 2020 and
significantly decreased during the lockdown. Finally, admitted patients
for asthma exacerbation during the lockdown were younger (p = 0.046) and
less frequently presented respiratory failure (p = 0.038), whereas
patients with COPD presented higher blood eosinophil percentage (p =
0.017) and count (p = 0.012). Overall, admissions for asthma and COPD
exacerbations decreased during the lockdown. This might be partially
explained by reduction of air pollution during this period while medical
care avoidance behavior, especially among elderly patients cannot be
excluded. Our findings aid in understanding the untold impact of the
pandemic on diseases beyond COVID-19, focusing on patients with
obstructive diseases.
ER -