Predicting factors of severe COVID-19 in patients with asthma: A Korean national cohort study

As there are limited data on the disease course of and factors predicting severe coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) in patients with asthma, this study aims to perform a detailed analysis of the clinical course of asthmatic patients with COVID-19 and evaluate factors related to severe infection. Of the 5,628 patients confirmed with COVID-19, 128 (2.3%) had asthma. Among the 128 asthmatic patients, 32 (25%) had severe COVID-19 and 96 (75%) had non-severe COVID-19. Among asthmatic patients, those with severe COVID-19 were significantly older and had more dyspnea and fever, more comorbidities, and lower lymphocyte and platelet counts than those with non-severe COVID-19. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 6.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-41.81), low lymphocyte proportion (aOR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.86-0.97), and low platelet count (aOR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-0.99) were independently associated with severe COVID-19.