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Observational Study
. 2021 May:87:29-35.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejim.2021.01.017. Epub 2021 Jan 31.

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the health of geriatric patients: The European GeroCovid Observational Study

Caterina Trevisan  1 , Susanna Del Signore  2 , Stefano Fumagalli  3 , Pietro Gareri  4 , Alba Malara  5 , Enrico Mossello  3 , Stefano Volpato  6 , Fabio Monzani  7 , Alessandra Coin  8 , Giuseppe Bellelli  9 , Gianluca Zia  2 , Anette Hylen Ranhoff  10 , Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi  11 ; GeroCovid Working Group
Affiliations
Observational Study

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the health of geriatric patients: The European GeroCovid Observational Study

Caterina Trevisan et al. Eur J Intern Med. 2021 May.

Abstract

Background: Despite the growing evidence on COVID-19, there are still many gaps in the understanding of this disease, especially in individuals in advanced age. We describe the study protocol of GeroCovid Observational, a multi-purpose, multi-setting and multicenter initiative that aims at investigating: risk factors, clinical presentation and outcomes of individuals affected by COVID-19 in acute and residential care settings; best strategies to prevent infection in long-term care facilities; and, impact of the pandemic on neuropsychologic, functional and physical health, and on medical management in outpatients and home care patients at risk of COVID-19, with a special focus on individuals with dementia.

Methods: GeroCovid involves individuals aged ≥60 years, at risk of or affected by COVID-19, prospectively or retrospectively observed since March 1st, 2020. Data are collected in multiple investigational sites across Italy, Spain and Norway, and recorded in a de-identified clinical e-Registry. A common framework was adapted to different care settings: acute wards, long-term care facilities, geriatric outpatient and home care, and outpatient memory clinics.

Results: At September 16th, 2020, 66 investigational sites obtained their Ethical Committee approval and 1618 cases (mean age 80.6 [SD=9.0] years; 45% men) have been recorded in the e-Registry. The average inclusion rate since the study start on April 25th, 2020, is 11.2 patients/day. New cases enrollment will ended on December 31st , 2020, and the clinical follow-up will end on June 30th, 2021.

Conclusion: GeroCovid will explore relevant aspects of COVID-19 in adults aged ≥60 years with high-quality and comprehensive data, which will help to optimize COVID-19 prevention and management, with practical implications for ongoing and possible future pandemics.

Trial registration: NCT04379440 (clinicaltrial.gov).

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Services for the Aged; Inpatients; Nursing Homes; Observational Study; Outpatients.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Age distribution of the 734 men and the 883 women enrolled in the GeroCovid initiative (data updated to the September 16th, 2020; n=1 participant had missing information on sex)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency of GeroCovid cases by setting of care (data updated to the September 16th, 2020)
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