Sigala Ioanna, Giannakas Timoleon, Giannakoulis Vassilis G, Zervas Efthimios, Brinia Aikaterini, Gianiou Niki, Asimakos Andreas, Dima Efi, Kalomenidis Ioannis, Katsaounou Paraskevi
Pulmonary and Respiratory Failure Department, First ICU, Evangelismos Hospital, Ipsilandou 45-7, 10676 Athens, Greece.
Medical School, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10679 Athens, Greece.
J Pers Med. 2021 Aug 30;11(9):867. doi: 10.3390/jpm11090867.
We conducted a retrospective observational study to assess the hospitalization rates for acute exacerbations of asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) during the first imposed lockdown in Athens, Greece. Patient characteristics and the concentration of eight air pollutants [namely, NO (nitrogen monoxide), NO (nitrogen dioxide), CO (carbon monoxide), PM2.5 (particulate matter 2.5), PM10 (particulate matter 10), O (ozone), SO (sulfur dioxide) and benzene] were considered. A total of 153 consecutive hospital admissions were studied. Reduced admissions occurred in the Lockdown period compared to the Pre-lockdown 2020 ( 0.001) or the Control 2019 ( = 0.007) period. Furthermore, the concentration of 6/8 air pollutants positively correlated with weekly hospital admissions in 2020 and significantly decreased during the lockdown. Finally, admitted patients for asthma exacerbation during the lockdown were younger ( = 0.046) and less frequently presented respiratory failure ( = 0.038), whereas patients with COPD presented higher blood eosinophil percentage ( = 0.017) and count ( = 0.012). Overall, admissions for asthma and COPD exacerbations decreased during the lockdown. This might be partially explained by reduction of air pollution during this period while medical care avoidance behavior, especially among elderly patients cannot be excluded. Our findings aid in understanding the untold impact of the pandemic on diseases beyond COVID-19, focusing on patients with obstructive diseases.
我们进行了一项回顾性观察研究，以评估希腊雅典首次实施封锁期间哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）急性加重的住院率。研究了患者特征以及八种空气污染物的浓度[即一氧化氮（NO）、二氧化氮（NO₂）、一氧化碳（CO）、细颗粒物2.5（PM2.5）、可吸入颗粒物10（PM10）、臭氧（O₃）、二氧化硫（SO₂）和苯]。共研究了153例连续的住院病例。与2020年封锁前（P = 0.001）或2019年对照期（P = 0.007）相比，封锁期间住院人数减少。此外，2020年6/8种空气污染物的浓度与每周住院人数呈正相关，且在封锁期间显著下降。最后，封锁期间因哮喘加重入院的患者更年轻（P = 0.046），出现呼吸衰竭的频率更低（P = 0.038），而慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者的血液嗜酸性粒细胞百分比更高（P = 0.017）和计数更高（P = 0.012）。总体而言，封锁期间哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺疾病加重的住院人数减少。这可能部分是由于在此期间空气污染减少，而医疗护理规避行为，尤其是老年患者中的此类行为也不能排除。我们的研究结果有助于理解大流行对除COVID - 19之外的疾病的潜在影响，重点关注阻塞性疾病患者。
