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Clinical characteristics of older patients infected with COVID-19: A descriptive study
Shengmei Niu1, Sijia Tian1, Jing Lou1
1Beijing Emergency Medical Center, Beijing, China.
Insights
Older adults are highly susceptible to COVID-19, with significant differences in severity and outcomes observed across age groups. This highlights the critical need for focused attention on elderly COVID-19 patients due to their higher fatality rate.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly spread globally.
- Older populations exhibit increased susceptibility to various diseases, including COVID-19.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of older patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
- To compare disease severity and outcomes among different age subgroups of elderly patients.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of confirmed COVID-19 cases among older patients transferred by Beijing Emergency Medical Service (EMS) from January 20 to February 29, 2020.
- Cases were categorized into three age groups: 50-64 years, 65-79 years, and older than 80 years.
- Demographic, epidemiological, clinical, severity, and outcome data were collected and compared across groups.
Main Results:
- Male gender accounted for 56.7% of elderly confirmed patients.
- Common symptoms included fever (78.3%), cough (56.7%), dyspnea (30.0%), and fatigue (23.3%).
- Significant differences in severity classification and contact with symptomatic cases were noted, particularly in the over 80 group. The fatality rate among elderly patients was 8.3%.
Conclusions:
- COVID-19 presents a significant threat to older adults, characterized by a relatively high fatality rate.
- Increased attention and tailored management strategies are crucial for elderly patients infected with COVID-19.
Objectives:
Since the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has spread in the world rapidly. Population have a susceptibility to COVID-19, older people were more susceptible to have a variety diseases than younger, including COVID-19 infection with no doubt. This study focused on older patients with COVID-19 infection and analyzed the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of them.
Methods:
We collected information on confirmed older patient transferred by Beijing Emergency Medical Service (EMS) to the designated hospitals from Jan 20 to Feb 29, 2020. The information including demographic, epidemiological, clinical, classification of severity and outcomes. All cases were categorized into three groups and compared the difference between aged 50-64 years, 65-79 years and older than 80 years.
Results:
56.7 % of elderly confirmed patients were male, fever (78.3 %), cough (56.7 %), dyspnea (30.0 %), and fatigue (23.3 %) were common symptoms of COVID-19 infection. Classification of severity has statistically significant differences between the three groups, compared with middle-aged patients and aged 65-79 years group, older than 80 years group had significant statistical differences in contacted to symptomatic case in 14 days. As of Feb 29, 38.3 % patients had discharged and 53.3 % patients remained in hospital in our study, the fatality of COVID-19 infection in elderly was 8.3 %.
Conclusions:
The COVID-19 infection is generally susceptible with a relatively high fatality rate in older patients, we should pay more attention to the elderly patients with COVID-19 infection.
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