Association Between Smoking and COVID-19 Severity: Evidence from Bangladesh

• Main Authors: Mohsin FM, Tonmon TT, Nahrin R, Tithy SA, Ame FA, Ara I, Alam ST, Pervej AMA, Shahjalal M, Hawlader MDH
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-07-01
• Series: Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
• Subjects: covid-19; smoking; icu; rt-pcr; bangladesh
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/association-between-smoking-and-covid-19-severity-evidence-from-bangla-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-JMDH

Faroque Md Mohsin,1,&ast; Tajrin Tahrin Tonmon,2,&ast; Ridwana Nahrin,1 Sharmin Ahmed Tithy,2 Farzana Akter Ame,1 Ismot Ara,3 SK Tasnuva Alam,4 Abu Muhammad Abdullah Pervej,5 Md Shahjalal,1 Mohammad Delwer Hossain Hawlader2 1Civil Surgeon Office, Azimpur, Dhaka, 1205, Bangladesh; 2Department of Public Health, North South University, Bashundhara, Dhaka, 1229, Bangladesh; 3Community Medicine, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, Dhaka, 1207, Bangladesh; 4Azimpur School Health Clinic, Azimpur, Dhaka, 1205, Bangladesh; 5Anaesthesiology, National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), Dhaka, 1207, Bangladesh&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Mohammad Delwer Hossain HawladerDepartment of Public Health, North South University, Bashundhara, Dhaka, 1229, BangladeshTel [phone]Email [e-mail]: Previous studies have explored several risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity, but there is still a lack of association with smoking. Our study aims to find out the association between smoking and COVID-19 severity.Subjects and Methods: This comparative study was conducted among hospitalized severely and critically ill COVID-19 patients, as well as asymptomatic, mild, and moderate patients from the list of the city corporation (Dhaka, Bangladesh), as confirmed by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). A total of 2022 adults aged ≥ 18 years were enrolled in this study.Results: The mean age of the patients was 41.17 years; 66.96% of the patients were male, 57.02% were aged above 35 years, and 81.50% of the patients had ever been married; and 33.09% cases were mild and 14.99% were severe. Among the patients, 29.4% were ever-smokers. Smoking status, duration, and frequency, and the presence of comorbidities were significantly associated with COVID-19 severity (p< 0.001). Ever-smokers were 1.35 times (95% CI: 0.74– 2.45), 1.30 times (95% CI: 0.58– 2.87), and 2.45 times (95% CI: 1.07– 5.61) more likely to be mild, severe, and critical cases in comparison to non-smokers.Conclusion: This study revealed a strong association between smoking and COVID-19 severity that calls for mass awareness and cessation campaigns from governments and voluntary organizations.Keywords: COVID-19, smoking, ICU, RT-PCR, Bangladesh