AUTHOR=Wu Xianbo , Xu Yihua , Jin Lina , Wang Xiaoou , Zhu Haiyan , Xie Yiqiang 

TITLE=Association of Preexisting Asthma and Other Allergic Diseases With Mortality in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.670744

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2021.670744

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=Background: Respiratory viruses are known to contribute to asthma exacerbations. A meta-analysis of three studies reported no association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality and preexisting asthma. This study aimed to investigate the mortality of patients with COVID-19 in relation to preexisting asthma and other allergic diseases associated with changes in respiratory function.
Methods: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were queried for papers published up to April 9, 2021: 1) population: patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 according to the WHO guidelines; 2) exposure: preexisting asthma or allergic rhinitis; 3) outcomes: mortality, ICU admission, and/or hospitalization; and 4) language: English. For studies that reported adjusted models, the most adjusted model was used for this meta-analysis; otherwise, unadjusted results were used.
Results: Twenty-four studies (1,169,441 patients) were included in this meta-analysis. Patients who died of COVID-19 were not more likely to have preexisting asthma (OR=0.95, 95%CI: 0.78-1.15, P=0.602; I2=63.5%, Pheterogeneity<0.001). Patients with COVID-19 and admitted to the ICU (OR=1.17, 95%CI: 0.81-1.68, P=0.407; I2=91.1%, Pheterogeneity=0.407), or hospitalized (OR=0.91, 95%CI: 0.76-1.10, P=0.338; I2=79.1%, Pheterogeneity<0.001) were not more likely to have preexisting asthma. The results for mortality and hospitalization remained non-significant when considering the adjusted and unadjusted models separately. The results from the sensitivity analyses were consistent with the primary analyses, suggesting the robustness of our results.
Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that the patients who died from COVID-19, were admitted to the ICU, or hospitalized were not more likely to have asthma.