Prats-Uribe, A;
Xie, J;
Prieto-Alhambra, D;
Petersen, I;
(2021)
Smoking and COVID-19 Infection and Related Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Analysis of UK Biobank Data.
Clinical Epidemiology
, 13
pp. 357-365.
10.2147/CLEP.S300597.
Preview |
Text
Petersen_Smoking and COVID-19 Infection and Related Mortality_VoR.pdf - Published Version Download (433kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Background: Several papers have shown contradictory evidence about the relationship between smoking and COVID-19-related deaths. There is little evidence about smoking and risk of infection. We aim to examine association between smoking and COVID-19 infection and subsequent mortality. Methods: This was a prospective study with participants from the UK Biobank cohort. Participants who lived in England were followed up from 01/02/2020 to 28/06/2020 with data linked to hospital episode statistics, Office for National Statistics and Public Health England PCR tests. We compared current-smokers, previous-smokers with never-smokers and estimated risk ratio (RR) of COVID-19 infection and subsequent mortality using Poisson regression adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, body mass index and socio-economic status. Interactions between smoking status and age and sex were tested for using multiplicative interactions, and analyses were stratified by median age (49-68 years, 69-86 years) and sex. Results: In total, 402,978 participants were included in the analyses. The majority were never smokers, 226,294 (56.2%), 140,090 (34.8%) were previous smokers, and 39,974 (9.9%) current smokers. COVID-19 infection was identified in 1591 (0.39%) people, and 372/1591 (23.4%) died. Amongst the younger participants, smokers were nearly twice as likely to become infected with COVID-19 than never smokers (RR 1.88 [1.49-2.38]) whereas there was no difference for those aged 69+ (RR 1.05 [0.82-1.34]). In contrast, amongst the older participants, smokers were twice as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to non-smokers (RR 2.15 [1.11-4.16]) whereas there was no difference for those under the age of 69 (RR 1.22[0.83-1.79]). Similar patterns were observed for previous smokers. The impact of smoking was similar in men and women. Conclusion: The association between smoking and COVID-19 infection and subsequent death is modified by age. Smokers and previous smokers aged under 69 were at higher risk of COVID-19 infection, suggesting the risk is associated with increased exposure to SARS-COV-2 virus. Once infected, older smokers were twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than never smokers, possibly mediated by increased risk of chronic conditions/illnesses.
Type: | Article |
---|---|
Title: | Smoking and COVID-19 Infection and Related Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Analysis of UK Biobank Data |
Location: | New Zealand |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.2147/CLEP.S300597 |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CLEP.S300597 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms. |
Keywords: | COVID-19, UK Biobank, smoking |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Primary Care and Population Health |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10129979 |
Archive Staff Only
![]() |
View Item |