ABSTRACT
Aims COVID-19 disproportionately affects older people, with those aged ≥65 years representing a significant proportion of hospital admissions and deaths. Our aim was to examine characteristics, inpatient course and one-month outcomes of older patients with COVID-19 managed in an Irish urban tertiary hospital. Methods A retrospective cohort study of patients aged ≥65 diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed-COVID-19 over one-month and managed as inpatients in an Irish tertiary referral hospital. Electronic and paper medical records were reviewed. Results Eighty-six inpatients aged ≥65 years (mean age 77) with laboratory-confirmed-COVID-19 were included. Participants were frail (Median Clinical Frailty Scale:5) with multiple comorbidities (Median Charlson Comorbidity Index:5). One month after diagnosis, 44.2% (38/86) were discharged, 33.7% (29/86) had died and 14.0% (12/86) were awaiting rehabilitation or long-term care(LTC). The remainder were medically recovering. Discussion COVID-19 had a significant impact on older people admitted to hospital with high case-fatality rates. The proportion awaiting rehabilitation or LTC at four weeks demonstrates a significant functional impact on this cohort.