Dementia is an Age-independent Risk Factor for Severity and Death in COVID-19 Inpatients

Overview

Journal Alzheimers Dement

Specialties Neurology
Psychiatry

Date 2021 Apr 21

PMID 33881211

Citations 65

Authors

Ana C Tahira

Sergio Verjovski-Almeida

Sergio T Ferreira

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Dementia has been associated with COVID-19 prevalence, but whether this reflects higher infection, older age of patients, or disease severity remains unclear.

Methods: We investigated a cohort of 12,863 UK Biobank community-dwelling individuals > 65 years old (1814 individuals ≥ 80 years old) tested for COVID-19. Individuals were stratified by age to account for age as a confounder. Risk factors were analyzed for COVID-19-positive diagnosis, hospitalization, and death.

Results: All-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and Parkinson's disease (PD) were associated with COVID-19-positive diagnosis, and all-cause dementia and AD remained associated in individuals ≥ 80 years old. All-cause dementia, AD, or PD were not risk factors for overall hospitalization, but increased the risk of hospitalization of COVID-19 patients. All-cause dementia and AD increased the risk of COVID-19-related death, and all-cause dementia was uniquely associated with increased death in ≥ 80-year-old patients.

Discussion: All-cause dementia and AD are age-independent risk factors for disease severity and death in COVID-19.

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