Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep-Oct;140(5):676-681.
doi: 10.1590/1516-3180.2021.0649.R1.20122021.

Risk factors for hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 among frail community-dwelling elderly people: a retrospective cohort study

Daniela Castelo Azevedo  1 , Fernando César Menezes Assunção  2 , Mônica Silva Monteiro de Castro  3 , Estevão Alves Valle  4
Affiliations

Risk factors for hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 among frail community-dwelling elderly people: a retrospective cohort study

Daniela Castelo Azevedo et al. Sao Paulo Med J. 2022 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Background: Advanced age, multiple chronic diseases and frailty have been correlated with worse prognosis among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) inpatients.

Objective: To investigate potential risk factors for hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 among frail community-dwelling elderly people.

Design and setting: Retrospective cohort study of patients followed up at a geriatric outpatient clinic in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods: The associations of demographic characteristics (age and sex) and clinical characteristics (frailty, multimorbidity, number of medications with long-term use, obesity, smoking, diabetes mellitus, pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease) with the risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 were explored using a multivariable logistic regression model.

Results: 5,295 patients (mean age 78.6 ± 9.4 years; 72.6% females) were included. After adjustments, the number of medications with long-term use was found to increase the odds of hospitalization due to COVID-19 (odds ratio, OR: 1.13; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.06-1.22). Frailty, multimorbidity and diabetes mellitus also increased the odds of hospitalization (OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.02-1.09; OR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.09-1.26; and OR: 2.27, 95% CI: 1.45-3.54, respectively) and the odds of death due to COVID-19 (OR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.00-1.14; OR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03-1.32; and OR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.79-6.14, respectively).

Conclusions: Multimorbidity, frailty and diabetes mellitus increased the odds of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 and the number of medications with long-term use increased the odds of hospitalization due to COVID-19 among frail community-dwelling elderly people.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: None

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Monthly cases and deaths due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): March 2020 to March 2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. World Health Organization WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. [Accessed in 2021 (Dec 21)]. Available from: https://covid19.who.int/
    1. Burki T. No end in sight for the Brazilian COVID-19 crisis. Lancet Microbe. 2021;2(5):e180. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(21)00095-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chilimuri S, Sun H, Alemam A, et al. Predictors of Mortality in Adults Admitted with COVID-19: Retrospective Cohort Study from New York City. West J Emerg Med. 2020;21(4):779–84. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2020.6.47919. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aw D, Woodrow L, Ogliari G, Harwood R. Association of frailty with mortality in older inpatients with Covid-19: a cohort study. Age Ageing. 2020;49(6):915–22. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaa184. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lippi G, Mattiuzzi C, Sanchis-Gomar F, Henry BM. Clinical and demographic characteristics of patients dying from COVID-19 in Italy vs China. J Med Virol. 2020;92(10):1759–60. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25860. - DOI - PMC - PubMed