Clinical consequences of health measures and lock down for covid-19 in exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Introduction: Covid-19 pandemic has meant that measures such as social distance, self protection measures and lock down can have an impact on exacerbations in patients with COPD. The aim of our study is to evaluate the impact about these measures on exacerbations in COPD patients. Material(s) and Method(s): Retrospective observational study of COPD patients visited at two public hospitals in Lleida in 2019. Several clinical variables and the number and type of exacerbations from March 2019 to December 2021 were collected from their electronic history. The mean number of exacerbations from March to May 2020 (period of lock down) was analyzed and compared with the same period of the previous year (March-May 2019). The behavior of exacerbations after progressive ending of lock down period (June 2020-December 2021) was observed. Result(s): A total of 310 patients were included with a mean (SD) age of 66.8+/-8.34 years. Patients had a FEV1 of 48.5+/-18.8% and 19.7% of them belong to group D according to GOLD guidelines. In lock down period between March and May 2020 there was a reduction in the mean number of exacerbations compared to the same period of the previous year (0.13+/-0.34 vs. 0.36+/-0.55;p<0.001). An increase in exacerbations was observed in the subsequent periods from June 2020 to February 2021 (0.3+/-0.56) and from June 2021 to December 2021 (0.43+/-0.68), coinciding with the relaxation of health measures. Conclusion(s): The results of our study suggest that measures such as lock down, social distance and self-protection have an impact on exacerbations in patients with COPD.