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. 2021 Jun;36(6):873-882.
doi: 10.1002/gps.5487. Epub 2021 Jan 2.

The Italian national survey on Coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic spread in nursing homes

Flavia L Lombardo  1 , Ilaria Bacigalupo  1 , Emanuela Salvi  2 , Eleonora Lacorte  1 , Paola Piscopo  3 , Flavia Mayer  1 , Antonio Ancidoni  1 , Giulia Remoli  4 , Guido Bellomo  1 , Gilda Losito  5 , Fortunato D'Ancona  6 , Antonio Bella  6 , Patrizio Pezzotti  6 , Marco Canevelli  1   4 , Graziano Onder  7 , Nicola Vanacore  1 ; Italian National Institute of Health Nursing Home Study Group
Affiliations

The Italian national survey on Coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic spread in nursing homes

Flavia L Lombardo et al. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Introduction: Residents in facilities such as nursing homes (NHs) are particularly vulnerable to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A national survey was carried out to collect information on the spreading and impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in nursing homes, and on how suspected and/or confirmed cases were managed. We carried out a survey between 25 March 2020 and 5 May 2020.

Materials and methods: All Italian nursing homes either public or providing services both privately and within the NHS were included in the study. An on-line questionnaire was sent to 3292 nursing homes across all Italian regions. Nursing homes were also contacted by telephone to provide assistance in completing the questionnaire.

Results: A total of 1356 nursing homes voluntarily participated to the survey, hosting a total of 100,806 residents. Overall, 9154 residents died due to any cause from February 1 to the time when the questionnaire was completed (from March 25 to May 5). Of these, 7.4% had COVID-19 and 33.8% had flu-like symptoms, corresponding to a cumulative incidence of 0.7 and 3.1, respectively. Lack of personnel, difficulty in transferring patients to hospital or other facility, isolating residents with COVID-19, number of beds and geographical area were the main factor positively associated to the presence of COVID-19 in nursing homes.

Discussion: This survey showed the dissemination and impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Italian nursing homes and on how older and potentially chronically ill people residing in these long-term care facilities were managed.

Keywords: COVID-19; nursinghome; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Number of nursing homes (percentage on the total) and COVID‐19 attack rates (per 100,000 habitants)
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Difficulties faced during the epidemic
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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