The Impact of Asthma as an Underlying Disease for COVID-19 in ICU Admitted Patients

Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases triggered by viral respiratory infections leading to severe exacerbations. This study was performed to compare asthma with other underlying systemic disorders in coronavirus patients of 2019 (COVID-19) to evaluate any significant difference between these two groups in terms of ICU admission. Method: The study was a retrospective study using hospital records of patients’ from Intensive Care Units of Azad University hospitals in Tehran. Adult patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) due to COVID19 infection for a period of one year from March 2020 to February 2021, were enrolled in this cross-sectional study and their anonymized information was collected from an electronic system. Results: This study evaluated a total of 160 COVID-19 patients, aged 29 to 92 years old (mean age: 63.03±15.67 years). 90 (56.3%) patients were males and 70 (43.7%) were females. Comparing the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients with underlying systemic disorders to those with asthma showed that there was no significant difference between them. However, the rate of ICU admission in COVID-19 patients with diabetes and hypertension were significant compared with asthma (P =0.03). Conclusion: Asthma does not increase the risk of ICU admission in case of COVID-19 infection. Among the ICU admitted patients due to COVID-19 infection, the presence of asthma is not necessarily associated with a significant increase in poor outcomes.