(P12-018-23) Relationship Between Social Habits and Worse Outcome in Mildly Ill COVID-19 Outpatients

Objectives: We investigated whether smoking, alcohol, and drug use were associated with worsened COVID-19 outcomes among patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED).

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of an intervention trial which sought to determine the effect of early convalescent plasma administration in patients presenting to the ED within 7 days of onset of mild COVID symptom. 511 participants who were 50 years or older or had one or more risk factors for severe COVID were recruited. Social habits and ICU (intensive care unit) or hospitalization outcomes were obtained from medical records. Social habits were categorized as either current or past users and never used. Logistic regression models were used to determine the association between social habits and outcomes.

Results: The mean age was 51.6 (14.6) years, majority were female (53.6%). Tobacco (30%) was the most common social habit. Past or current alcohol (7%) and drug use (6%) were less common. Tobacco (OR=2.19; 95%CI: 1.43-3.35) and drug (OR=2.51; 95%CI: 1.20-5.21) users were more likely to require ICU or hospitalization compared to non-users. There was no association between alcohol use and ICU or hospitalization.

Conclusions: Tobacco and drug use are associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes in patients not requiring hospitalization on their initial presentation. Further investigation with a larger sample size is warranted to determine the quantity, duration, and type of drug/tobacco use that may worsen COVID-19.

Funding Sources: National Institutes of Health (NIH) Agreement 1OT2HL156812 through the Collaborating Network of Networks for Evaluating Covid-19 and Therapeutic Strategies (CONNECTS)