Mortality Related to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of Multiple Causes of Death through Different Epidemic Waves in Veneto, Italy

Ugo Fedeli (), Claudio Barbiellini Amidei, Alessandro Marcon, Veronica Casotto, Francesco Grippo, Enrico Grande, Thomas Gaisl and Stefano Barco
Additional contact information
Ugo Fedeli: Epidemiological Department, Azienda Zero, Veneto Region, 35131 Padova, Italy
Claudio Barbiellini Amidei: Epidemiological Department, Azienda Zero, Veneto Region, 35131 Padova, Italy
Alessandro Marcon: Unit of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy
Veronica Casotto: Epidemiological Department, Azienda Zero, Veneto Region, 35131 Padova, Italy
Francesco Grippo: Integrated System for Health, Social Assistance and Welfare, Italian National Institute of Statistics, 00184 Roma, Italy
Enrico Grande: Integrated System for Health, Social Assistance and Welfare, Italian National Institute of Statistics, 00184 Roma, Italy
Thomas Gaisl: Department of Pulmonology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
Stefano Barco: Department of Angiology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-9

Abstract: Mortality related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) during the COVID-19 pandemic is possibly underestimated by sparse available data. The study aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on COPD-related mortality by means of time series analyses of causes of death data. We analyzed the death certificates of residents in Veneto (Italy) aged ≥40 years from 2008 to 2020. The age-standardized rates were computed for COPD as the underlying cause of death (UCOD) and as any mention in death certificates (multiple cause of death—MCOD). The annual percent change (APC) in the rates was estimated for the pre-pandemic period. Excess COPD-related mortality in 2020 was estimated by means of Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average models. Overall, COPD was mentioned in 7.2% (43,780) of all deaths. From 2008 to 2019, the APC for COPD-related mortality was −4.9% (95% CI −5.5%, −4.2%) in men and −3.1% in women (95% CI −3.8%, −2.5%). In 2020 compared to the 2018–2019 average, the number of deaths from COPD (UCOD) declined by 8%, while COPD-related deaths (MCOD) increased by 14% (95% CI 10–18%), with peaks corresponding to the COVID-19 epidemic waves. Time series analyses confirmed that in 2020, COPD-related mortality increased by 16%. Patients with COPD experienced significant excess mortality during the first year of the pandemic. The decline in COPD mortality as the UCOD is explained by COVID-19 acting as a competing cause, highlighting how an MCOD approach is needed.

Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; COVID-19; mortality; multiple causes of death (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12844/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12844/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12844-:d:935542

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().