Prospective cohort of elderly patients after hospitalization due to COVID-19: preliminary results

ABSTRACT

Background: Post Covid-19 syndrome is recognized as the maintenance of disease symptoms for weeks to months after the disease has healed. It is suspected that the involvement of the ACE enzyme and IL-6 may trigger an increased risk of dementia. Method(s) This is a cohort study that is evaluating over 12 months the functional status and cognition of elderly people after hospital discharge. One group is composed of elderly people admitted to the hospital for Covid-19 and the other group is composed of elderly people hospitalized for other clinical reasons. The groups are evaluated with The Mattis (DRS), AD8, IQCODE, ADCS-ADL, PCL-C, GDS-15, FIM, COPM, CFS, FSS, mMRC and SARC-calf. We will describe the preliminary results of the first 15 patients included in the COVID-19 group on functional status, cognition, mood and quality of life. Result(s) Fifteen patients with COVID-19 were evaluated three months after hospital discharge. One was excluded due to previous mental disorder and another due to a request to be excluded from the study. We found a mean age of 67.7 +/- 7.15 years, schooling 8.7 +/- 4.7 years, 61.5% female, Charlson Comorbidity Index 1.9 +/- 1.4, 69.2% with smoking history had incomplete vaccine protection for COVID-19. Considering cognition, 15.4% of the sample had no impairment, 53.9% had mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (30.8% amnestic MCI and 23.1% non-amnesic MCI) and 30.8% had dementia. 23.1% declared their health status and quality of life as fair or poor. Median CFS was 5 (3-5), mean GDS-15 was 4.7 +/- 2.9, FSS 32.9 +/- 18.9, PCL-c 32.6 +/- 12.5, SARC-calf 3.2 +/- 4.2. All had mMRC dyspnea classified between 2 and 4. Conclusion(s) There was a high prevalence of mild cognitive impairment and dementia among patients after three months of discharge, with a predominance of mild frailty due to CFS and the presence of fatigue. It is noteworthy that a quarter of the sample reported low quality of life. Copyright © 2022 the Alzheimer's Association.