- Published
- 06 March 2024
- Journal article
Health and socio-demographic determinants of over-mortality in Spanish nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 2-year prospective longitudinal study
- Authors
- Source
- Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie
Abstract
Background: Age, multimorbidity, immunodeficiency and frailty of older people living in nursing homes make them vulnerable to COVID-19 and overall mortality.
Objective: To estimate overall and COVID-19 mortality parameters and analyse their predictive factors in older people living in nursing homes over a 2-year period.
Design: A 2-year prospective longitudinal multicentre study was conducted between 2020 and 2022.
Setting: Five nursing homes in Central Catalonia (Spain).
Participants: Residents aged 65 years or older who lived in the nursing homes on a permanent basis.
Measurements: Date and causes of deaths were recorded. In addition, socio-demographic and health data were collected. For the effect of mortality, survival curves were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate analysis using Cox regression.
Results: The total sample of 125 subjects had a mean age of 85.10 years (standard deviation=7.3). There were 59 (47.2%) deaths at 24 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 38.6-55.9) and 25 (20.0%) were due to COVID-19, mostly in the first 3 months. In multivariate analysis, functional impairment (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.40; 95% CI: 1.33-4.32) was a significant risk factor for mortality independent of age (HR: 1.17; 95% CI: 0.69-2.00) and risk of sarcopenia (HR: 1.40; 95% CI, 0.63-3.12).
Conclusions: Almost half of this sample of nursing home residents died in the 2-year period, and one fifth were attributed to COVID-19. Functional impairment was a risk factor for overall mortality and COVID-19 mortality, independent of age and risk of sarcopenia.
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Cite as
Escriba-Salvans, A., Jerez-Roig, J., Farres-Godayol, P., Bezerra de Souza, D., Skelton, D. & Minobes-Molina, E. 2024, 'Health and socio-demographic determinants of over-mortality in Spanish nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 2-year prospective longitudinal study', Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie. https://researchonline.gcu.ac.uk/en/publications/9c89b5e7-8965-48b8-b6d6-3ffc992a38e8