Asthma exacerbations after COVID-19 last longer in Latino patients
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After a SARS-CoV-2 infection, Latino patients were more likely than non-Latino Black and white patients to develop asthma exacerbations and experience these exacerbations for a longer duration, according to a recent study.
The findings were presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.
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Katharine Foster, MD, of the department of internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and colleagues examined data on 174 adults with a history of asthma (23 Latino, 44 Black) who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between February and April 2020 at their medical center, “which primarily serves Cook County and an overall ethnically diverse population,” Foster said. The patients were enrolled at the time of infection and followed for a mean of 6.8 months.
The researchers found that Latino patients were 4.6 times more likely to develop asthma exacerbations than non-Latino Black patients and 2.9 times more likely to develop exacerbations than non-Latino white patients. In addition, Latino patients experienced asthma exacerbations for 3.2 weeks compared with 1.4 weeks among non-Latino Black patients and 1.59 weeks among non-Latino white patients.
“This stayed true when statistically adjusted for gender, BMI, age, inhaled corticosteroid use and allergic/atopic status,” Foster told Healio Primary Care. “We included these adjusters since these factors have proven significant for predicting a person’s, in particular an asthmatic patient’s, susceptibility to severe COVID-19 infection.”
Despite the differences in symptoms, there was no significant difference “in the likelihood of starting steroids for symptom relief, nor for starting asthma step-up therapy between Latino, non-Latino white and non-Latino Black populations,” study co-author and ACAAI member Mahboobeh Mahdavinia, MD, PhD, said in a press release.
The researchers also found a similar number of asthma-related provider visits, including clinic, ED and telehealth visits, across the groups, with a mean of 1.9 total visits for exacerbation-related concerns per patient.
“We want to recommend that providers consider initiating increased scheduled follow-up visits with Latino patients with asthma who become infected with COVID-19 and consider step-up therapy early in the exacerbation,” Foster said.
References:
Foster K, et al. Abstract A032. Presented at: ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting; Nov. 4-8, 2021; New Orleans (hybrid meeting).
New study shows Latinos had higher probability of developing asthma exacerbations. https://annualmeeting.acaai.org/2021/new-study.cfm. Published Nov. 5, 2021. Accessed Nov. 6, 2021.