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. 2021 Jun 19;1(4):317–323. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.06.005

Table 1.

COVID-19 Genetic Correlations When Accounting for Potential Confounding Variables

Substance Use Phenotype CUD β Substance Use Phenotypea EA TDI BMI FEV1 Fast Gluc β Risk β ADHD
Cannabis Use 0.539b −0.300 0.015 0.057 0.312b 0.025 −0.024 −0.007 −0.058
CPD 0.381b 0.042 −0.193b −0.052 0.327b 0.011 0.006 −0.026 −0.092
Age Smoke 0.398b 0.067 −0.215b −0.037 0.336b 0.009 0.010 −0.025 −0.064
Smoking Cessation 0.402b −0.205 −0.114 −0.122 0.329b 0.014 −0.0003 −0.054 −0.069
Ever Smoke 0.439b −0.123 −0.191b −0.021 0.344b 0.011 −0.003 −0.029 −0.052
PAU 0.315 0.162 −0.211b −0.082 0.345b 0.004 0.009 −0.036 −0.088

Standardized beta estimates for CUD and substance use phenotypes were taken from a multiple regression parameterized in gSEM. When all of the above covariates were included in the model simultaneously with PAU and CUD, the partial rG between CUD and COVID-19 was no longer significant (rG = 0.315, p = .08). This was largely due to the number of covariates; when only PAU was included in the model, the partial r effect size for CUD was similar in magnitude and significant (r = 0.364, p = .004).

ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; Age Smoke, age of smoking initiation; BMI, body mass index; Cannabis Use, any lifetime cannabis use; CPD, cigarettes/day; CUD, cannabis use disorder; EA, education attainment; Ever Smoke, ever smoking tobacco; Fast Gluc, fasting glucose; FEV1, forced expiratory volume for 1 second; gSEM, genomic structural equation modeling; GWAS, genome-wide association study; PAU, problematic alcohol use; Risk, risk taking; TDI, Townsend deprivation index.

a

Substance use phenotypes were entered and tested separately to avoid multicollinearity among them. Each row represents genetic correlations with COVID-19 hospitalization from one model. The multiple rows indicate the separate models run substituting each substance use phenotype (listed in the first column). The model was COVID-19 hospitalization = CUD + substance use phenotype + BMI + TDI + EA + FEV1 + Fasting Gluc + ADHD + Risk taking + error. The original GWASs accounted for standard GWAS covariates (age, sex, genetic principal components, etc.).

b

p < .05.