Patients with dementia at higher risk for COVID-19, worse outcomes for Blacks

Editor's Note

This study led by researchers from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, finds that patients with dementia are at a significantly higher increased risk for COVID-19, and the risk is higher still for Blacks with dementia.

Analyzing electronic health records of 61.9 million adults in the US, the researchers found that the risk of contracting COVID-19 was twice as high for patients with dementia, and Blacks with dementia had almost three times the risk as Caucasians.

Dementia patients with COVID-19 also had significantly worse outcomes in terms of requiring hospitalization (59.26% vs 25.17%) and mortality risk (20.99% vs 5.64%) than those who had COVID-19 but not dementia. These percentages were even higher for Black dementia patients with 73.08% requiring hospitalization and a 23.08% mortality risk.

The results highlight the need to protect people with dementia, particularly Blacks, as part of the strategy to control the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors say.