Influence of smoking history on the evolution of hospitalized in COVID-19 positive patients: Results from the SEMI-COVID-19 registry.

Introduction: Smoking can play a key role in SARS-CoV-2 infection and in the course of the disease. Previous studies have conflicting or inconclusive results on the prevalence of smoking and the severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Methods: Observational, multicenter, retrospective cohort study of 14,260 patients admitted for COVID-19 in Spanish hospitals between February and September 2020. Their clinical characteristics were recorded and the patients were classified into a smoking group (active or former smokers) or a non-smoking group (never smokers). The patients were followed up to one month after discharge. Differences between groups were analysed. A multivariate logistic regression and Kapplan Meier curves analysed the relationship between smoking and in-hospital mortality. Results: The median age was 68.6 (55.8-79.1) years, with 57.7% of males. Smoking patients were older (69.9 (59.6-78.0 years)), more frequently male (80.3%) and with higher Charlson index (4 (2-6)) than non-smoking patients. Smoking patients presented a worse evolution, with a higher rate of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) (10.4 vs. 8.1%), higher in-hospital mortality (22.5 vs. 16.4%) and readmission at one month (5.8 vs. 4.0%) than in non-smoking patients. After multivariate analysis, smoking remained associated with these events. Conclusions: Active or past smoking is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19. It is associated with higher ICU admissions and in-hospital mortality.

Introducción: El tabaquismo puede tener un papel importante en la infección por SARS-CoV-2 y en el curso de la enfermedad. Los estudios previos muestran resultados contradictorios o no concluyentes sobre la prevalencia de fumar y la severidad en la enfermedad por coronavirus (COVID-19). Material y métodos: Estudio de cohortes observacional, multicéntrico y retrospectivo de 14.260 pacientes que ingresaron por COVID-19 en hospitales españoles desde febrero a septiembre de 2020. Se registraron sus características clínicas y se clasificaron en el grupo con tabaquismo si tabaquismo activo o previo o en el grupo sin tabaquismo si nunca habían fumado. Se realizó un seguimiento hasta un mes después del alta. Se analizaron las diferencias entre grupos. La relación entre tabaquismo y mortalidad intrahospitalaria se valoró mediante una regresión logística multivariante y curvas de Kapplan Meier. Resultados: La mediana de edad fue 68,6 (55,8­79,1) años, con un 57,7% de varones. El grupo con tabaquismo presentó mayor edad (69,9 (59,6­78,0 años)), predominio masculino (80,3%) y mayor índice de Charlson (4 (2−6)). La evolución fue peor en estos pacientes, con una mayor tasa de ingreso en UCI (10,4 vs 8,1%), mayor mortalidad intrahospitalaria (22,5 vs 16,4%) y reingreso al mes (5,8 vs 4,0%) que el grupo sin tabaquismo. Tras el análisis multivariante, el tabaquismo permanecía asociado a estos eventos. Conclusiones: El tabaquismo de forma activa o pasada es un factor predictor independiente de mal pronóstico en los pacientes con COVID-19, estando asociada a mayor probabilidad de ingreso en UCI y a mayor mortalidad intrahospitalaria.

Influence of smoking history on the evolution of hospitalized in COVID-19 positive patients: results from the SEMI-COVID-19 registry. / Influencia de la historia de tabaquismo en la evolución de la hospitalización en pacientes COVID-19 positivos: datos del registro SEMI-COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: Smoking can play a key role in SARS-CoV-2 infection and in the course of the disease. Previous studies have conflicting or inconclusive results on the prevalence of smoking and the severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). METHODS: Observational, multicenter, retrospective cohort study of 14,260 patients admitted for COVID-19 in Spanish hospitals between February and September 2020. Their clinical characteristics were recorded and the patients were classified into a smoking group (active or former smokers) or a non-smoking group (never smokers). The patients were followed up to one month after discharge. Differences between groups were analyzed. A multivariate logistic regression and Kapplan Meier curves analyzed the relationship between smoking and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: The median age was 68.6 (55.8-79.1) years, with 57.7% of males. Smoking patients were older (69.9 [59.6-78.0 years]), more frequently male (80.3%) and with higher Charlson index (4 [2-6]) than non-smoking patients. Smoking patients presented a worse evolution, with a higher rate of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) (10.4 vs 8.1%), higher in-hospital mortality (22.5 vs. 16.4%) and readmission at one month (5.8 vs. 4.0%) than in non-smoking patients. After multivariate analysis, smoking remained associated with these events. CONCLUSIONS: Active or past smoking is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19. It is associated with higher ICU admissions and in-hospital mortality.

Impact of Arterial Stiffness on All-Cause Mortality in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 in Spain.

Older age and cardiovascular comorbidities are well-known risk factors for all-cause mortality in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Hypertension and age are the 2 principal determinants of arterial stiffness (AS). This study aimed to estimate AS in patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization and analyze its association with all-cause in-hospital mortality. This observational, retrospective, multicenter cohort study analyzed 12 170 patients admitted to 150 Spanish centers included in the SEMI-COVID-19 Network. We compared AS, defined as pulse pressure ≥60 mm Hg, and clinical characteristics between survivors and nonsurvivors. Mean age was 67.5 (±16.1) years and 42.5% were women. Overall, 2606 (21.4%) subjects died. Admission systolic blood pressure (BP) <120 and ≥140 mm Hg was a predictor of higher all-cause mortality (23.5% and 22.8%, respectively, P<0.001), compared with systolic BP between 120 and 140 mm Hg (18.6%). The 4379 patients with AS (36.0%) were older and had higher systolic and lower diastolic BP. Multivariate analysis showed that AS and systolic BP <120 mm Hg significantly and independently predicted all-cause in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj]: 1.27, P=0.0001; ORadj: 1.48, P=0.0001, respectively) after adjusting for sex (males, ORadj: 1.6, P=0.0001), age tertiles (second and third tertiles, ORadj: 2.0 and 4.7, P=0.0001), Charlson Comorbidity Index (second and third tertiles, ORadj: 4.8 and 8.6, P=0.0001), heart failure, and previous and in-hospital antihypertensive treatment. Our data show that AS and admission systolic BP <120 mm Hg had independent prognostic value for all-cause mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization.