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Mohammad Z Haider,1 Amna Al-Mannai,1 Sally Al-Sirhan,1 Ahmed Elsabagh,1 Nasser Nasser,1 Noora Al-Quraishi,1 Amr Ouda,1 Khadija Erradi,1 Anas A Ashour,2 Ishita Gupta,1,3 Jazeel Abdulmajeed,4 Hamad E Al-Romaihi,4 Devendra Bansal,4 Omran AH Musa,4 Elmoubasher Abu Baker Abd Farag,4 Mohammed HJ Al-Thani,4 Ala-Eddin Al Moustafa1,3,5 1College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar; 3Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research Unit, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar; 4Ministry of Public Health, Doha, Qatar; 5Biomedical Research Centre, Qatar University, Doha, QatarCorrespondence: Ala-Eddin Al Moustafa, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, PO Box 2713, Doha, Qatar, Tel +974 4403 7817, Fax +974 4403-3333, Email aalmoustafa@qu.edu.qaPurpose: Predisposition to acute illness from COVID-19 is suggested to correlate with cigarette smoking as it augments the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, including infections. However, the effects of smoking on COVID-19 symptoms are not well described and controversial. In this study, we aim to explore the associations between smoking and COVID-19 symptoms.Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study using the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Qatar database was administered to a Qatari population with confirmed COVID-19 disease who filled in pre-defined phone-call questionnaire between 27th February 2020 and 31st December 2020. We analyzed 11,701 non-vaccinated COVID-19 individuals (2952 smokers and 8749 non-smokers) with confirmed RT-PCR test results. The association of smoking and the presence of symptoms as well as patient characteristics was calculated using Pearson’s Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests, adjusting for potential covariates.Results: Compared with the non-smokers, symptomatic COVID-19 infection is significantly higher in smokers. In addition, we found fever as the most common symptom developed in COVID-19 patients followed by cough, headache, muscle ache, and sore throat. As compared to other symptoms, association of smoking with chills and abdominal pain was less evident (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively). However, both groups showed similar rates of developing cough.Conclusion: In conclusion, smoking is associated with COVID-19 symptoms frequency in non-vaccinated patients; nevertheless, further investigations are necessary to understand the mechanism of this association which could generate new targets for the management of COVID-19 in smoker patients.Keywords: COVID-19, smoking, frequency, Qatar, symptoms |
