COVID-19 Pandemic
Chronic Lung Disease and Long Covid Syndrome in Postmenopausal Women from the Women’s Health Initiative Patrick Montine* Patrick Montine Danielle J Harvey Lorena Garcia Christian Sandrock John Robbins
Abstract: We analyzed the cross-sectional association between pre-existing chronic lung diseases (CLD), namely asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the manifestation of Post-COVID Conditions (PCC) symptoms in postmenopausal women. The background highlights the increased risk of asthma development in women before menopause due to estrogen’s impact on airway inflammation and its potential to intensify the oxidative stress caused by cigarette smoke, a significant contributor to COPD. The study aims to assess whether pre-existing CLD is linked to PCC in postmenopausal women with COVID-19. Excluding participants who tested negative for COVID-19 and those who developed CLD after December 31, 2019, the study employs the WHO PCC definition for outcome measurement and evaluates CLD history using bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models. Among 37,289 participants responding to COVID-19 Survey 2, 1237 reported positive COVID-19 results with 413 (33%) participants having PCC. The participants who reported positive COVID-19 predominantly comprising White (90%), Non-Hispanic (96%) individuals residing in urban areas (90%), with a median age of 83.79 ± 5.52. Preliminary bivariate results indicate a significant association between COPD (OR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.10-2.06, P < .01) and PCC, while asthma (OR 1.36, 95% CI: 0.99-1.86, P = .05) demonstrates a borderline association with PCC. The discussion underscores the implication that women with pre-existing CLD may be more predisposed to PCC, offering valuable insights for a deeper understanding of PCC mechanisms.