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. 2021 Jun 29:13:698184.
doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.698184. eCollection 2021.

Dementia as Risk Factor for Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Case-Control Study

Mariantonietta Pisaturo  1 , Federica Calò  1 , Antonio Russo  1 , Clarissa Camaioni  1 , Agnese Giaccone  2 , Biagio Pinchera  2 , Ivan Gentile  2 , Filomena Simeone  3 , Angelo Iodice  3 , Paolo Maggi  1   3 , Nicola Coppola  1
Affiliations

Dementia as Risk Factor for Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Case-Control Study

Mariantonietta Pisaturo et al. Front Aging Neurosci. .

Abstract

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate the outcome of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and dementia.

Patients and methods: In a multicenter, observational, 1:2 matched case-control study all 23 patients with a history of dementia, hospitalized with a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection from February 28th 2020 to January 31st 2021 were enrolled. For each Case, 2 patients without dementia observed in the same period study, pair matched for gender, age (±5 years), PaO2/FiO2 (P/F) ratio at admission (<200, or >200), number of comorbidities (±1; excluding dementia) were chosen (Control group).

Results: The majority of patients were males (60.9% of Cases and Controls) and very elderly [median age 82 years (IQR: 75.5-85) in the Cases and 80 (IQR: 75.5-83.75) in the Controls]. The prevalence of co-pathologies was very high: all the Cases and 43 (93.5%) Controls showed a Charlson comorbidity index of at least 2. During hospitalization the patients in the Case group less frequently had a moderate disease of COVID-19 (35 vs. 67.4%, p = 0.02), more frequently a severe disease (48 vs. 22%, p = 0.03) and more frequently died (48 vs. 22%, p = 0.03). Moreover, during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), 14 (60.8%) patients in the Case group and 1 (2.1%; p < 0.000) in the Control group showed signs and symptoms of delirium.

Conclusion: Patients with dementia are vulnerable and have an increased risk of a severe disease and death when infected with COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; death; dementia; severity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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