Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Chung-Ang University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
Heart Lung. 2024 Nov-Dec;68:18-22. doi: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2024.06.002. Epub 2024 Jun 13.
Non-pharmaceutical interventions have been implemented globally to control the COVID-19 pandemic and have been shown to alleviate both allergies and respiratory infections. Although mask-wearing is an accepted non-pharmaceutical intervention, the effects of social distancing have not been thoroughly evaluated.
To evaluate the effects of social distancing on asthma trends in Seoul, South Korea.
This study included data from the National Health Insurance Service of South Korea, covering approximately 10 million people in Seoul. Daily and monthly data of patients with asthma from 2018 to 2021 were examined, and the degree of social distancing performance was measured using the number of subway users as an index. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between the two indices. The change-point detection technique, cross-correlation, and Granger causality method were used to assess the temporal causality between social distancing and asthma.
The number of patients with asthma decreased by 42.4 % from 2019 to 2020, while that of subway users decreased by 26.3 % during this period. Pearson's correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations. Asthma and subway users showed a significant change in incidence following the implementation of social distancing; subway users showed a causal relationship with patients with asthma.
Our results showed that the number of subway users decreased after the implementation of strict social distancing, coinciding with a decrease in the number of patients with asthma. These findings suggest that social distancing measures implemented to control COVID-19 may reduce the incidence and exacerbation of asthma.
全球已实施非药物干预措施来控制 COVID-19 大流行，这些措施已被证明可缓解过敏和呼吸道感染。虽然戴口罩是一种被接受的非药物干预措施，但社会隔离的效果尚未得到彻底评估。
评估在韩国首尔实施社会隔离对哮喘趋势的影响。
本研究纳入了来自韩国国家健康保险服务的数据，涵盖了首尔约 1000 万人。研究考察了 2018 年至 2021 年期间哮喘患者的每日和每月数据，并使用地铁乘客数量作为指标来衡量社会隔离措施的执行程度。采用皮尔逊相关系数来确定这两个指标之间的关系。采用变点检测技术、交叉相关和格兰杰因果关系方法来评估社会隔离与哮喘之间的时间因果关系。
2019 年至 2020 年，哮喘患者数量减少了 42.4%，而同期地铁乘客数量减少了 26.3%。皮尔逊相关分析显示两者呈显著正相关。哮喘和地铁乘客在实施社会隔离后发病情况均发生了显著变化；地铁乘客与哮喘患者之间存在因果关系。
研究结果表明，严格实施社会隔离后，地铁乘客数量减少，同时哮喘患者数量也减少。这些发现表明，为控制 COVID-19 而实施的社会隔离措施可能会降低哮喘的发病率和加重程度。
