Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 infection in polyhandicapped persons in France

Little is known about the clinical profile of COVID-19 infection in polyhandicapped persons. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of this infection among individuals with polyhandicap.

This was a retrospective observational study. Polyhandicap was defined by the combination of motor deficiency, profound mental retardation, and age at onset of cerebral lesion younger than 6 years. A positive COVID-19 status was considered for patients with a positive COVID-19 laboratory test result, or patients presenting with compatible symptoms and living in an institution or at home with other patients or relatives who had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection. Data collection included sociodemographic data, clinical and paraclinical characteristics, as well as the management and treatment for COVID-19 infection.

We collected 98 cases, with a sex ratio of 0.98 and a mean age of 38.5 years (3 months to 73 years). COVID-19 infection was paucisymptomatic in 46% of patients, 20.6% of patients presented with dyspnea, while the most frequent extra-respiratory symptoms were digestive (26.5%) and neurological changes (24.5%); 18 patients required hospital admission, four adults died. The mean duration of infection was longer for adults than for children, and the proportion of taste and smell disorders was higher in older patients.

These findings suggest that PLH persons often develop paucisymptomatic forms of COVID-19 infection, although they may also experience severe outcomes, including death. Clinicians should be aware that COVID-19 symptoms in PLH persons are often extra-respiratory signs, mostly digestive and neurologic, which may help in the earlier identification of COVID-19 infection in this particular population of patients.