The Impact of COVID-19 on Hospitalised COPD Exacerbations in Malta

Table 1

Demographics and comorbidities of patients hospitalised with AECOPD and COPD pre-admission treatment.

Patient demographics	2019		2020		Chi-square	value
		%		%
Gender—male	199	76.5%	89	74.8%	0.137	0.711
Gender—female	61	23.5%	30	25.2%
Active smoker (within the last 6 months)	102	54.0%	38	43.7%	2.524	0.112
Comorbidity
Ischaemic heart disease	80	30.8%	28	23.5%	2.028	0.154
Chronic heart failure	103	39.6%	47	39.5%	0.000	0.986
Hypertension	159	61.1%	78	65.5%	0.879	0.349
Diabetes mellitus	71	27.3%	34	28.6%	0.057	0.812
Asthma	17	6.5%	5	4.2%	0.811	0.368
Cerebrovascular disease	22	8.4%	9	7.6%	0.086	0.770
Peripheral vascular disease	19	7.3%	5	4.2%	1.361	0.243
Pulmonary embolism/deep vein thrombosis	11	4.2%	3	2.5%	0.688	0.407
Active malignancy	27	10.4%	18	15.1%	1.771	0.183
Psychiatric history	44	16.9%	23	19.3%	0.257	0.612
COPD pre-admission treatment
SABA	179	71.0%	90	78.3%	2.108	0.146
LABA	136	54.0%	57	49.6%	0.614	0.433
SAMA	158	62.7%	77	67.0%	0.622	0.430
LAMA	32	12.7%	21	18.3%	1.977	0.160
ICS	122	48.4%	45	39.1%	2.744	0.098
Home nebulisers	21	8.3%	6	5.2%	1.167	0.280
Home NIV	6	2.4%	3	2.6%	0.014	0.906
Home LTOT	64	25.4%	29	25.0%	0.007	0.935

SABA: short-acting beta-agonist; LABA: long-acting beta-agonist; SAMA: short-acting muscarinic antagonist; LAMA: long-acting muscarinic antagonist; ICS: inhaled corticosteroid use; NIV: non-invasive ventilation; LTOT: long-term oxygen therapy.