COVID-19 Lockdown Effect on Not Institutionalized Patients with Dementia and Caregivers

SARS-COV-2 is a severe medical condition. Old patients are very vulnerable, but they have been studied only as institutionalized patients. During the lock-down, little attention is dedicated to old, demented patients who lived at home. This study wants to examine their behavioral reactions by video-phone follow-up. We conducted a longitudinal study in subcortical vascular dementia (sVAD) patients. We enrolled 221 sVAD, not institutionalized patients. We divided sVAD patients into low-medium grade sVAD (A) and severe sVAD (B), based on neuroimaging severity degree and executive alterations. At baseline, at the end of lock-down, and two months later, global behavioral symptoms were recorded for each patient. We found significantly higher scores of general behavioral deterioration, anxiety, delusions, hallucinations and apathy after controlling for sVAD severity. The direct consequence was a drastic increment of psychotropic drugs prescribed and employed during the lock-down. Moreover, caregivers' stress has been evaluated, together with their anxiety and depression levels. During the lock-down, their scores increased and reflected a severe worsening of their behavior. Our data demonstrate that social isolation induces a severe perception of loneliness and abandonment; these fears can exacerbate behavior disturbances in old-aged frail persons. Thus, these can be considered as indirect victims of SARS-COV-2.