Coronavirus disease 2019 in veterans receiving care at veterans health administration facilities.
Ann Epidemiol
; 55: 10-14, 2021 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-978209
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
Veterans represent a significant proportion of the U.S. population (7%), and the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in this group of vulnerable patients has been largely overlooked. This analysis reports COVID-19 patient demographics, infection, mortality, and case-fatality rates in the veteran population.METHODS:
This is a cross-sectional analysis using the Veterans Affairs informatics and computing infrastructure tool to assess the veterans' COVID-19 infections at the Veterans Affairs facilities from March 4th to June 23rd, 2020.RESULTS:
Of the 10,621,580 veterans in this analysis, 59.7% were ≥65 yo, 92.5% were men, 68.7% were white, and 14.2% were black. Veterans ≥65 yo comprised 52.1% of cases and 89.9% of deaths. The relative mortality and case-fatality rates of black veterans, when compared with white veterans, were 2.83 (CI 2.56-3.14; P < .001) and 0.75 (CI 0.68-0.82; P < .001), respectively. Among the veterans who died from COVID-19, 87.4% had a history of cardiovascular disease, 56.5% had a history of diabetes, and 33.6% were obese.CONCLUSIONS:
Elderly veterans (≥65yo) and veterans with a history of cardiovascular disease represent a large proportion of the VA COVID-19 cases and deaths. Black veterans had higher mortality rates but lower case fatality rates when than white veterans.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Veterans
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Ann Epidemiol
Journal subject:
Epidemiology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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