Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mortality of Patients with Respiratory Diseases: The Cases of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Lung Cancer

QES n° 298
2025/03

RÉSUMÉ
The COVID‑19 pandemic and the measures implemented to limit its effects had a major impact on the health status and mortality of the population. People living with a chronic illness that exposed them to a risk of disability are likely to have been particularly vulnerable. This study focuses on patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI), severe and persistent mental illnesses (SMI), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Large-scale evidence on mortality trends in these three populations before and during the pandemic is provided using data from the French National Health Data System (Système National des Données de Santé, SNDS). The results confirmed the pre-pandemic excess mortality of these populations and their increased mortality during the pandemic, which was higher than that of the general population. Moreover, the populations studied were not affected to the same extent or on the same time periods. The mortality rate of people with a SCI or a SMI increased in 2020 and remained above the expected rate until 2022. Mortality due to COVID‑19, the principal factor associated with the increase in mortality in 2020, subsequently decreased but remained higher than COVID‑19 related mortality in the general population. Conversely, for people with MS, mortality increased and exceeded the expected number of deaths only in 2022. This increase resulted from persisting mortality due to COVID‑19 and an increase in mortality due to other causes.

See also Questions d'économie de la santé n° 298 in French: Un impact variable de la pandémie de Covid-19 sur la mortalité des personnes à risque de handicap : le cas des lésions médullaires, des troubles psychiques sévères et persistants et de la sclérose en plaques..