Analysis of Epidemiological and Clinical Features in Older Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outside Wuhan

Jiangshan Lian; Xi Jin; Shaorui Hao; Huan Cai; Shanyan Zhang; Lin Zheng; Hongyu Jia; Jianhua Hu; Jianguo Gao; Yimin Zhang; Xiaoli Zhang; Guodong Yu; Xiaoyan Wang; Jueqing Gu; Chanyuan Ye; Ciliang Jin; Yingfeng Lu; Xia Yu; Xiaopeng Yu; Yue Ren; Yunqing Qiu; Lanjuan Li; Jifang Sheng; Yida Yang

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa242

Analysis of Epidemiological and Clinical Features in Older Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outside Wuhan

Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Jul 28;71(15):740-747. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa242.

Authors

Jiangshan Lian¹, Xi Jin², Shaorui Hao¹, Huan Cai¹, Shanyan Zhang¹, Lin Zheng¹, Hongyu Jia¹, Jianhua Hu¹, Jianguo Gao², Yimin Zhang¹, Xiaoli Zhang¹, Guodong Yu¹, Xiaoyan Wang¹, Jueqing Gu¹, Chanyuan Ye¹, Ciliang Jin¹, Yingfeng Lu¹, Xia Yu¹, Xiaopeng Yu¹, Yue Ren², Yunqing Qiu¹, Lanjuan Li¹, Jifang Sheng¹, Yida Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Department of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a large threat to public health in China, with high contagious capacity and varied mortality. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of older patients with COVID-19 outside Wuhan.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed, with collecting data from medical records of confirmed COVID-19 patients in Zhejiang province from 17 January to 12 February 2020. Epidemiological, clinical, and treatment data were analyzed between older (≥ 60 years) and younger (< 60 years) patients.

Results: A total of 788 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were selected; 136 were older patients with corresponding mean age of 68.28 ± 7.31 years. There was a significantly higher frequency of women in older patient group compared with younger patients (57.35% vs 46.47%, P = .021). The presence of coexisting medical conditions was significantly higher in older patients compared with younger patients (55.15% vs 21.93%, P < .001), including the rate of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Significantly higher rates of severe clinical type (older vs younger groups: 16.18% vs 5.98%, P < .001), critical clinical type (8.82% vs 0.77%, P < .001), shortness of breath (12.50% vs 3.07%, P < .001), and temperature of > 39.0°C (13.97% vs 7.21%, P = .010) were observed in older patients compared with younger patients. Finally, higher rates of intensive care unit admission (9.56% vs 1.38%, P < .001) and methylprednisolone application (28.68% vs 9.36%, P < .001) were also identified in older patients compared with younger ones.

Conclusions: The specific epidemiological and clinical features of older COVID-19 patients included significantly higher female sex, body temperature, comorbidities, and rate of severe and critical type disease.

Keywords: COVID-19; Epidemiology; SARS-CoV-2; elderly.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Betacoronavirus / pathogenicity
COVID-19
China / epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Disease Outbreaks
Female
Hospitalization
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Male
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2