Abstract
Introduction: There is an ongoing increase in the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, and further restrictions are necessary to contain the pandemic. The implications of restrictive measures like social-distancing and mouth-nose protection on patients with chronic respiratory diseases have hardly been investigated.
Methods: We surveyed 282 participants within the All Age Asthma Cohort (ALLIANCE), a multicenter longitudinal observational study. We assessed the effects of COVID-19 on the course of the disease, quality of life and the mental health of asthma patients.
Results: We observed a high rate of problems associated with using facemasks and a significant reduction in using routine medical care. In addition to unsettling impacts, like an increase in depression symptoms in adults, an astonishing striking effect was that preschool children experienced an improvement in disease condition during the lockdown.
Conclusion: COVID-19 measures have a positive and negative influence on the course of disease in asthmatics. The observed improvement can be contributed to a significant reduction in exposure to viral infections. Long-term observation of this side-effect may help improve our understanding of the influence of viral infections on asthma in early childhood.
Footnotes
Cite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2021; 58: Suppl. 65, PA3932.
This abstract was presented at the 2021 ERS International Congress, in session “Prediction of exacerbations in patients with COPD”.
This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).
- Copyright ©the authors 2021
