Late Breaking Abstract - Preliminary results in differences between elderly COPD patients admitted in a COVID-19 free respiratory ward before and during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has opposed a whole new set of conditions regarding the everyday life. Many people have altered their way of living, especially those with certain respiratory conditions.The aim was to evaluate and measure possible differences in the discharge diagnoses of elderly patients with COPD with known lung cancer, lower respiratory tract infection(RTI),and firstly diagnosed lung cancer between 2019 and 2020 i.e.before and during the pandemic.Our data included 514 patients admitted in 2019 and 464 in 2020 with known COPD, mean age of 70±0,9,known lung cancer, RTI or newly diagnosed lung cancer. The main statistical tool was RStudio. Descriptive statistics commands and chi-squared test were performed.In 2019 the total number was 514. Of those, 30 (5,8%) had a diagnosis of complications related to already known lung cancer, 22 (4,2%) with firstly diagnosed lung cancer and 124 (24,2%) with RTI. In 2020, the numbers were 464, 45 (9,6%), 76 (16,3%), 104 (22,4%) respectively. In 2020 of a total of 76,54 came from underdeveloped areas. Chi-squared test yielded a p-value less than 0,01 (a=0.05), showing strong correlation between newly diagnosed lung cancer and dwelling in underdeveloped districts.The differences observed can be attributed to the changes in everyday life, during Covid quarantine in Greece. The smaller number of RTIs can be a result of social distancing measures followed by COPD elderly patients. Lung cancer patients had more complications related ...
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Occupational and environmental health Source Type: research