Health conditions of potential risk for severe Covid-19 in institutionalized elderly people

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 16; no. 1; p. e0245432
• Main Authors: Araújo, Mayara Priscilla Dantas, Nunes, Vilani Medeiros de Araújo, Costa, Larissa de Albuquerque, Souza, Talita Araujo de, Torres, Gilson de Vasconcelos, Nobre, Thaiza Teixeira Xavier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 14-01-2021; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Asthma; Biology and Life Sciences; Body mass; Body mass index; Body size; Brazil - epidemiology; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Cognitive ability; Coronary artery disease; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - mortality; COVID-19 - transmission; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes mellitus; Dialysis; Disease control; Female; Health risks; Heart diseases; Homes for the Aged - statistics & numerical data; Homes for the Aged - trends; Humans; Hypertension; Institutionalization - statistics & numerical data; Institutionalization - trends; Kidney diseases; Liver diseases; Long-term care; Lung diseases; Male; Medical examination; Medicine and Health Sciences; Nursing Homes - statistics & numerical data; Nursing Homes - trends; Nutritional status; Obstructive lung disease; Older people; Overweight; People and Places; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Tobacco; Viruses; Brazil; Rio Grande do Norte Brazil; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245432

The objective of this study was to identify the health conditions considered potential risk factors for severe Covid-19 and analyze its association with the BMI of elderly people living in Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCF). This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, carried out in eight LTCF in the Metropolitan Region of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, with a population of 267 elderly people, between the months of February and December 2018. The Elderly Health Handbook was used to collect data on sociodemographic, health and risk factors. The Pearson's Chi-square test and odds ratio were used for the analysis. A higher frequency of low weight was observed in elderly people with cognitive impairment (24.6%), and overweight in those hypertensive (23.3%) and diabetics (12.9%). BMI was associated with the age group of 80 years or over, hypertension and diabetes (p = 0.013; p < 0.001; p = 0.001). Hypertensive elderly people were more likely to have low weight when compared to non-hypertensive individuals (RC = 3.6; 95% CI 1.5-8.6). The institutionalized elderly individuals present health conditions that may contribute to the occurrence of adverse outcomes in case of infection by Covid-19. The importance of protective measures for this population must be reinforced, in view of the devastating action of this disease in these institutions.