London
A recent study has suggested that smoking is associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 symptoms and smokers are more likely to attend hospital than non-smokers.

The study by researchers from King’s College London was published in Thorax. It investigates the association between smoking and the severity of the COVID-19. Researchers analyzed data from the ZOE COVID Symptom Study App.

Of the participants of the app, 11 per cent were smokers. This is a lower proportion than the overall UK population of 14.7 percent, however, it reflects the demographics of the self-selected sample of the ZOE COVID Symptom Study.

While more than a third of users reported not feeling physically well during the period of study , current smokers were 14 per cent more likely to develop the classic triad of symptoms suggesting diagnosis of COVID-19: fever, persistent cough and shortness of breath – compared to non-smokers.

Current smokers were also more likely to have a higher symptom burden than non-smokers. Smokers were 29 per cent more likely to report more than five symptoms associated with COVID-19 and 50 per cent more likely to report more than ten, including loss of smell, skipping meals, diarrhoea, fatigue, confusion or muscle pain. A greater number of symptoms suggested more severe COVID-19.

Additionally, current smokers who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were more than twice as likely as non-smokers to attend the hospital.The researchers recommended that a smoking cessation strategy be included as an element to address COVID-19, as smoking increased both the likelihood of symptomatic disease and disease severity.

Reduction in smoking rates could also reduce the health system burden from other smoking-related conditions that require hospitalization.