Table 5.

Association between regular use of inhaled corticosteroids and severe COVID-19

	Unadjusted HR (95% CI)	HR (95% CI) adjusted for presence of respiratory disease*	HR (95% CI) also adjusted for demographic factors†	HR (95% CI) also adjusted for smoking-related morbidity‡
Hospital admission	2·72 (2·60–2·85)	2·06 (1·94–2·19)	0·97 (0·89–1·05)	1·13 (1·03–1·23)
ICU admission	2·10 (1·78–2·46)	2·52 (2·03–3·13)	1·64 (1·20–2·23)	1·63 (1·18–2·24)
Death	2·63 (2·44–2·84)	2·04 (1·85–2·25)	0·94 (0·83–1·07)	1·15 (1·01–1·31)

People with active asthma had at least one prescription for asthma medication. People with severe asthma were prescribed at least three different classes of medication for asthma in the year before cohort entry. HR=hazard ratio. ICU=intensive care unit.

^*Adjusted for presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, bronchiectasis, sarcoidosis, extrinsic allergic alveolitis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, other interstitial lung disease, and lung cancer.

^†Adjusted for sex, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, region of England, body-mass index, and smoking status as categorical variables, and number of airways medications (3 or more or fewer).

^‡Adjusted for non-smoking-related illness (hypertension, type 1 diabetes, chronic liver disease, and chronic neurological disease) and smoking-related illness (coronary heart disease, stroke, atrial fibrillation, type 2 diabetes, and chronic kidney disease).