Kumari Rina
Kumari Rina, Arpit Parmar, Susanta Kumar Padhy, Binod Kumar Patro, Priyamadhaba Behera, Sahadeb Panigrahi. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), India
Background: Substance use disorder (SUD) poses a risk of contracting an infectious disease. However, evidence for the association between SUD and COVID-19 infection is limited.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational, case-control study conducted at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, India, from December 2020 to February 2021. Age and gender-matched individuals were recruited from COVID screening outdoor using the purposive sampling technique. An RT-PCR COVID-19 positive individual was defined as a ‘case,’ while negatives were ‘control’. We designed a semi-structured proforma to record socio-demographic characteristics, clinical features, risk factors for contracting COVID-19 infection, and substance use pattern via telephonic interviews; for identification for SUD involvement, the World Health Organization–Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (WHO-ASSIST) was administered.
Result: Sample comprised 136 pairs of RT-PCR-COVID-19 cases and controls. We found a higher association of COVID-19 positivity with tobacco use in the past one month [adjusted Odd’s Ratio (OR)(95%CI)=4.32(2.31-8.11), unadjusted OR(95%CI)=4.45(2.51-7.91)], and alcohol use in the past one year [adjusted OR(95%CI)=1.61(0.63-4.12), unadjusted OR(95%CI)=3.09(1.32-7.21)]. Similarly, a greater association between COVID-19 positivity and ‘high-risk’ level-involvement scores (as per WHO-ASSIST) for tobacco (p-value=0.000) and alcohol (p-value=0.002), emerged. Regarding socio-demographic and clinical variables, married, Hindu, educated graduation and above, aged 60 years and above, used public transport in last 4-7 days, and not involved in healthcare, had a higher association of COVID-19 positivity.
Conclusion: Individuals with tobacco and alcohol use are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and, hence, this special population needs primary preventive strategies to reduce risk factors for contracting COVID-19 infection.