Study identification

EU PAS number

EUPAS47704

Study ID

47715

Official title and acronym

Impact of COVID-19 on Asthma Exacerbations (Asthma Attacks During COVID-19)

DARWIN EU® study

No

Study countries

United Kingdom

Study description

Hypotheses: We hypothesise that there was a significant drop in the rate of asthma exacerbations due to lockdown measures. Once the lockdown measures are eased, we hypothesise that there will be a rebound effect and the rate of asthma exacerbations will return to pre-lockdown period. Method: We will undertake an interrupted time series study where we will follow a cohort of asthma patients from 2015 to 2020 using a UK-wide primary care database. This cohort of patients will be identified by looking at all available patients records in the period 2010-2015 and any patient with any asthma diagnosis code in that period will be included. We will define 3 time-periods for comparison in this interrupted time-series analysis. These 3 time-periods are the pre-lockdown phase, during lockdown phase, and after lockdown measures are eased (referred to as post-lockdown phase henceforth). We will use the cut-off date of 24th March 2020 to separate pre-lockdown and during-lockdown periods (the UK government announced lockdown measures on the evening of 23rd March 2020). As lockdown measures are further expected to be eased in the near future, we will ascertain the cut-off time to separate during-lockdown and post-lockdown periods in due time. Study Setting: Optimum Patient Care Research Database (OPCRD) consisting of 8.8 million patients from over 700 practices from across the UK.

Study status

Ongoing
Research institutions and networks

Institutions

Contact details

Syed Ahmar Shah

Primary lead investigator

Study timelines

Date when funding contract was signed

Planned:
Actual:

Study start date

Planned:
Actual:

Data analysis start date

Planned:
Actual:

Date of final study report

Planned:
Sources of funding
Other

More details on funding

Medical Research Coucil, UK, University
Regulatory

Was the study required by a regulatory body?

No

Is the study required by a Risk Management Plan (RMP)?

Not applicable