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. 2020 Nov 14;12(1):e12114.
doi: 10.1002/dad2.12114. eCollection 2020.

Prevalence and clinical correlates of dementia among COVID-19-related deaths in Italy

Marco Canevelli  1   2 , Luigi Palmieri  3 , Valeria Raparelli  4 , Cinzia Lo Noce  3 , Elisa Colaizzo  5 , Dorina Tiple  5 , Luana Vaianella  5 , Nicola Vanacore  2 , Silvio Brusaferro  6 , Graziano Onder  3 ; Italian National Institute of Health COVID‐19 Mortality Group*
Affiliations

Prevalence and clinical correlates of dementia among COVID-19-related deaths in Italy

Marco Canevelli et al. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). .

Abstract

Introduction: We aimed at exploring the proportion of patients dying with COVID-19 and concomitant dementia in Italy, as well as their clinical characteristics and trajectories of care.

Methods: The proportion of COVID-19-related deaths occurring in people with dementia and the clinical characteristics of deceased individuals according to their dementia status were explored by considering the medical charts of a representative sample of patients deceased in Italian hospitals (n = 2621).

Results: A total of 415 individuals with dementia were identified in the study population, accounting for 15.8% of overall COVID-19-related deaths. Patients with dementia less frequently presented with cough, had lower chance of receiving supportive therapies and intensive care approaches, and showed a faster clinical worsening as compared with individuals with intact cognition.

Discussion: Dementia confers a relevant risk of adverse outcomes in case of SARS-CoV-2 infection and influences the clinical presentation, course and management of affected individuals.

Keywords: COVID‐19; SARS‐CoV‐2; dementia; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose for the present study. Authors have no funding source to disclose for the present study. Marco Canevelli is supported by a research grant of the Italian Ministry of Health (GR‐2016‐02364975) for the project “Dementia in immigrants and ethnic minorities living in Italy: clinical‐epidemiological aspects and public health perspectives” (ImmiDem). Valeria Raparelli is supported by the Scientific Independence of Young Researchers Program (RBSI14HNVT), Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), Rome, Italy.

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