Clinical Factors Related to COVID-19 Outcomes in Institutionalized Older Adults: Cross-sectional Analysis from a Cohort in Catalonia

The interplay between infection risk factors of SARS-CoV-2 and mortality: a cross-sectional study from a cohort of long-term care nursing home residents

“…Besides these factors, we observed an intriguing interplay between risk of infection and mortality. More autonomous residents (low level of functional dependence) showed a notably higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but a disproportionate mortality rate as well, as we published previously [ 17 ]. This may be explained by the fact that residents with greater autonomy may have had a higher rate of social contacts inside the LTCF and therefore a higher probability of exposure to infection.…”

“…The increased risk of infection associated with cardiovascular and respiratory disease could easily be biased in a population with a high prevalence of such conditions. According other reports, besides chronic renal failure [ 17 ], we observed a lack of association between negative outcome and other underlying comorbidities described among general populations [ 28 , 32 , 33 ], and patients with Covid-19 in geriatric care [ 34 ]. We hypothesized that in the context of extremely high attack rates in LTCF, once SARS-CoV-2 infection occurs tends to behave independently of underlying risk factors, like a primary pathogen.…”

“…Overall, our results may explain the much higher CFR (around 40%) of older adults living in LTCF infected by SARS-CoV-2 compared to the general CFR observed in people older than 80 years old, estimated to be 14.5% [ 39 ]. due to the interaction between of structural (institutional), as the clustering of our data suggests, which were in turn consequence of societal and implemented policies, and individual factors (related to chronic/advanced conditions, age, gender and autonomy level, as previously discussed [ 17 ], which may be more or less prevalent in each facility. However, it is worth noting that these results correspond to the conditions of the first wave of a pandemic, which tends to be characterized by a lack of preparedness against an unknown pathogen.…”

“…Most of the previous articles on the impact of Covid-19 in LTCF premises have explored risk factors, both individual [ 16 ] and structural [ 6 ], associated with mortality in LTCF residents. In previous articles, we analyzed contextual and clinical factors related to mortality of a local cohort during the first wave of Covid-19 in Europe [ 6 , 17 ]. In this article we aim to expand previous analysis by focusing on epidemiological factors related to SARS-CoV-2 infection in LTCF and the interaction between contextual and societal factors in the evolution and results of SARS-CoV2 outbreaks and clinical prognosis.…”

Social and Emotional Loneliness in Older Community Dwelling-Individuals: The Role of Socio-Demographics

“…Unwanted loneliness has been shown to harm individuals’ physical and emotional health [ 8 , 10 , 13 , 21 , 32 , 33 ]. Indeed, loneliness seems to worsen mental health, increase suicidal ideation, and contribute to unhealthy lifestyles (smoking and alcohol use among others) [ 4 , 34 ].…”