Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population
Abstract Empirical evidence, primarily based on hospital-based or voluntary samples, suggests that current smokers have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection than never smokers. In this study, we used nationally representative data to examine the association between tobacco use and the risk of having a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24148-y |
| _version_ | 1811304595836633088 |
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| author | Sebastián Peña Katja Ilmarinen Laura Kestilä Suvi Parikka Sanna Kärkkäinen Ida Henriette Caspersen Ahmed Nabil Shaaban Per Magnus Maria Rosaria Galanti Sakari Karvonen |
| author_facet | Sebastián Peña Katja Ilmarinen Laura Kestilä Suvi Parikka Sanna Kärkkäinen Ida Henriette Caspersen Ahmed Nabil Shaaban Per Magnus Maria Rosaria Galanti Sakari Karvonen |
| author_sort | Sebastián Peña |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Empirical evidence, primarily based on hospital-based or voluntary samples, suggests that current smokers have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection than never smokers. In this study, we used nationally representative data to examine the association between tobacco use and the risk of having a confirmed COVID-19 case. We explored several forms of tobacco use, contributing to separate the role of nicotine from smoking. We used data from 44,199 participants from three pooled national health surveys in Finland (FinSote 2018–2020). The primary outcome was a confirmed COVID-19 case. We examined current smoking, moist smokeless tobacco (snus), e-cigarettes with and without nicotine and nicotine replacement therapy products. Current daily smokers had a relative risk of 1.12 of a confirmed COVID-19 case (95% CI 0.65; 1.94) in fully adjusted models compared with never smokers. Current snus use was associated with a 68% higher risk of a confirmed COVID-19 case (RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.02; 2.75) than never users. We did not find conclusive evidence of associations between e-cigarettes with and without nicotine and nicotine replacement therapy products and the risk of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Our findings suggest that nicotine might not have a protective role in the risk of COVID-19 as previously hypothesized. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:10:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4edee289182948558d10c0f2487978c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:10:12Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-4edee289182948558d10c0f2487978c92022-12-22T02:55:02ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-11-011211910.1038/s41598-022-24148-yTobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general populationSebastián Peña0Katja Ilmarinen1Laura Kestilä2Suvi Parikka3Sanna Kärkkäinen4Ida Henriette Caspersen5Ahmed Nabil Shaaban6Per Magnus7Maria Rosaria Galanti8Sakari Karvonen9Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and WelfareDepartment of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and WelfareDepartment of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and WelfareDepartment of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and WelfareDepartment of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and WelfareCentre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDepartment of Global Public Health, Karolinska InstitutetCentre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public HealthDepartment of Global Public Health, Karolinska InstitutetDepartment of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and WelfareAbstract Empirical evidence, primarily based on hospital-based or voluntary samples, suggests that current smokers have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection than never smokers. In this study, we used nationally representative data to examine the association between tobacco use and the risk of having a confirmed COVID-19 case. We explored several forms of tobacco use, contributing to separate the role of nicotine from smoking. We used data from 44,199 participants from three pooled national health surveys in Finland (FinSote 2018–2020). The primary outcome was a confirmed COVID-19 case. We examined current smoking, moist smokeless tobacco (snus), e-cigarettes with and without nicotine and nicotine replacement therapy products. Current daily smokers had a relative risk of 1.12 of a confirmed COVID-19 case (95% CI 0.65; 1.94) in fully adjusted models compared with never smokers. Current snus use was associated with a 68% higher risk of a confirmed COVID-19 case (RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.02; 2.75) than never users. We did not find conclusive evidence of associations between e-cigarettes with and without nicotine and nicotine replacement therapy products and the risk of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Our findings suggest that nicotine might not have a protective role in the risk of COVID-19 as previously hypothesized.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24148-y |
| spellingShingle | Sebastián Peña Katja Ilmarinen Laura Kestilä Suvi Parikka Sanna Kärkkäinen Ida Henriette Caspersen Ahmed Nabil Shaaban Per Magnus Maria Rosaria Galanti Sakari Karvonen Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population Scientific Reports |
| title | Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population |
| title_full | Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population |
| title_fullStr | Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population |
| title_short | Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population |
| title_sort | tobacco use and risk of covid 19 infection in the finnish general population |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24148-y |
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