Abstract

Background: Tobacco is one of the deadliest public health threats to humankind, killing more than eight million people a year globally. Combined with COVID-19, smoking is even more lethal, in which smoked tobacco damage the lungs tissue and reduces its function drastically. So, comparing to a non-smoker the smoker has more chance of developing severe COVID-19 infection and related complications.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care center of Chamarajanagar District. All Adult patients who attended the study settings with previous history of Covid 19 infection and history of smoking was administered a pre-tested semi structured questionnaire after meeting inclusion criteria. The questionnaire was structured into 4 parts to meet the expected objectives. The data obtained was entered into MS Excel and analysed.
Results: The study included 103 participants; out of which 65% belongs to the age group of more than 40 years. Majority of the study subjects were literate and semi-skilled workers which comprise 58% & 64% respectively. 81% of the study subjects were not vaccinated at the time of infection, but in contrast 97% were vaccinated at the time of interview. Majority of the subjects are current smokers (73%), and many of them prefers Beedis to smoke. A proportion of 44% are smokers for more than 15 years and half of total smokers are thinking it has ill effects on health. The major symptoms identified in our study were fever, cough & body ache.
Conclusion: Cause effect analysis shows direct relationship between number of cigarettes smoked per day and number of days require for institutional care during infection. This leads to the necessity to quit smoked tobacco products as soon as possible in high-risk individuals for better health outcome