Abstract
Background: Smoking is considered to be one of the main risk factors that may affect the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Previously, several meta-analyses with a limited or small sample size and insufficient methodology have been conducted investigating the impact of smoking on disease severity. Here, we use a more accurate method to identify the effect of smoking on COVID-19 disease severity.
Methods: BMC, PubMed, Science Direct, Wiley, Springer, and Google Scholar websites were used to search for and select reliable articles to be included in the current analysis. Research articles that mentioned the relationship between smoking and COVID-19 severity were included.
Results: Twenty-six research articles detailing 15,713 confirmed COVID-19 cases comprising patients who smoke were selected to be included in this analysis. The analysis showed a relationship between smoking, severe COVID-19, and non-severe COVID-19 (OR=0:11; 95%CI: 0.10–0.11; p<0.00001). Only 15% (2407) of the smokers suffered severe COVID-19, with the other 85% (13306) of smokers experiencing non-severe COVID-19.
Conclusion: The current analysis found that only 15% of severe COVID-19 cases were smokers. Therefore, smoking is not significantly correlated with severe covid19.
Keywords: COVID-19, Humans, Smokers, Smoking