AUTHOR=Peng Fei , Lei Si , Zhang Quan , Zhong Yanjun , Wu Shangjie 

TITLE=Smoking Is Correlated With the Prognosis of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Patients: An Observational Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.634842

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2021.634842

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Cigarette smoking has been proven to be a risk factor in the development of many diseases. However, it remains controversial with respect to the relationship of smoking with COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of smoking in COVID-19.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A total of 622 patients with COVID-19 in China were enrolled in the study. Corresponding clinical and laboratory data were collected and analyzed. Meanwhile, Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression analysis were employed to analyze the association of smoking with survival in patients with COVID-19.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Smoking was statistically significant comparing non-survivors and survivors of patients with COVID-19 (<italic>P</italic> = 0.007). Males had higher proportion of smoking than females (91.9% vs. 8.1%, <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001). Compared with the non-smoker, there was significant statistical difference in the incidence of cerebrovascular disease in smoking patients with COVID-19 (9.7% vs. 3.4%, <italic>P</italic> = 0.017). White blood cell count (6.3 vs. 5.4; <italic>P</italic> = 0.037), hemoglobin level (139.0 vs. 127.0; <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001), and creatinine level (77.3 vs. 61.0; <italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001) were significantly increased in COVID-19 patients who smoked. Moreover, smoking patients showed a worse survival compared with non-smoking patients (Log Rank <italic>P</italic> = 0.045). After adjustment for age, gender and underlying diseases, patients with smoking still had higher risk of mortality than that of non-smoking patients (hazard ratio[HR] 1.897, 95% confidence interval [CI]1.058–3.402, <italic>P</italic> = 0.032).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Smoking was thought to be a risk factor in predicting the prognosis of COVID-19 and smoking patients might have a higher risk of mortality than that of the non-smoking patients.</p></sec>