Takeaway
A pre-existing diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease was associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 outcomes, including any COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 requiring inpatient care, and COVID-19-related death.
Why this matters
Findings highlight the need for better surveillance and medical care for patients with neurodegenerative diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic, both before and after being infected.
Study design
A community-based cohort study included 96,275 participants (age, 40-69 years) from the UK Biobank (2006-2010) who had available SARS-CoV-2 test results.
Of these, 2617 were diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases, and 93,658 were not before the outbreak of COVID-19 (31 January 2020).
Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China and others.
Key results
Patients with neurodegenerative disease vs those without had an increased risk of (adjusted OR [aOR]; 95% CI):
any COVID-19 diagnosis (2.47; 2.25-2.71);
COVID-19 requiring inpatient care (2.18; 1.94-2.45); and
COVID-19-related death (3.67; 3.11-4.34).
Among patients with a positive test result for SARS-CoV-2, those with neurodegenerative diseases had a higher risk of COVID-19-related death than others (aOR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.71-2.53).
Limitations
Study did not collect data on place of residence (e.g., care home) for the participants.
Hu Y, Yang H, Hou C, Chen W, Zhang H, Ying Z, Hu Y, Sun Y, Qu Y, Feychting M, Valdimarsdottir U, Song H, Fang F. COVID-19 related outcomes among individuals with neurodegenerative diseases: a cohort analysis in the UK biobank. BMC Neurol. 2022;22(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12883-021-02536-7. PMID: 34996388 View abstract.
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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Pavankumar Kamat. Neurodegenerative Disease and Risk of COVID-19 Outcomes - Medscape - Jan 14, 2022.
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