ArticleBMJ open respiratory research2021
Effect modification by age of the association between obstructive lung diseases, smoking, and COVID-19 severity.
Article in BMJ open respiratory research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Asthma and COPD as co-morbidities in patients hospitalised with Covid-19 disease: a global systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Social network diversity and COVID-19 infection and severity risk: a longitudinal population study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association of Hypertension, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease with COVID-19 in Africa: Scoping Review Protocol.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Article
- Asthma and COVID-19 Outcomes: A Prospective Study in a Large Health Care Delivery System.Journal of asthma and allergy · 2023Article
- Smoking cessation in the elderly as a sign of susceptibility to symptomatic COVID-19 reinfection in the United States.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionObstructive lung diseases (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)) and smoking are associated with greater risk of respiratory infections and hospitalisations, but conflicting data exist regarding their association with severity of COVID-19, and few studies have evaluated whether these associations differ by age.
objectivesTo examine the associations between asthma, COPD and smoking on the severity of COVID-19 among a cohort of hospitalised patients, and to test for effect modification by age.
methodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of electronic health record data of patients admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital, assigning the maximal WHO Clinical Progression Scale score for each patient during the first 28 days following hospital admission. Using ordered logistic regression, we measured the association between maximal severity score and asthma, COPD and smoking and their interaction with age. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
resultsAmong 1391 patients hospitalised with COVID-19, we found an increased risk of severe disease among patients with COPD and prior smoking, independent of age. We also found evidence of effect modification by age with asthma and current smoking; in particular, asthma was associated with decreased COVID-19 severity among older adults, and current smoking was associated with decreased severity among younger patients.
conclusionsThis cohort study identifies age as a modifying factor for the association between asthma and smoking on severity of COVID-19. Our findings highlight the complexities of determining risk factors for COVID-19 severity, and suggest that the effect of risk factors may vary across the age spectrum.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.