Older People Living in Long-Term Care Facilities and Mortality Rates During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Italy

Preliminary Epidemiological Data and Lessons to Learn

Bibliographic Data

ID15520150
AuthorsGiovanni De Girolamo (0000-0002-1611-8324, Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, corresponding author), Giuseppe Bellelli (0000-0001-5430-0947, University of Milano-Bicocca), Angelo Bianchetti (0000-0002-2914-0627), Fabrizio Starace (0000-0002-1123-8917, Azienda Unita' Sanitaria Locale Di Modena), Orazio Zanetti (0000-0002-5408-0048, Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), Cristina Zarbo (0000-0002-6613-4445, Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli), Rocco Micciolo (0000-0002-8299-9879, University of Trento)
Year2020
Volume11
Pages586524-586524
Publication date2020-10-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640
PublisherFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2020.586524
PMID33173526
OpenAlexW3093044057
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited5

Background: Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCF) in Italy have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in terms of mortality rates of older residents. However, it is still unclear the actual extent of this situation. The aim of this manuscript is to assess the extent of mortality rates of older adults in LTCF during the pandemic across different regions of Italy, compared to the previous years and to older general population not resident in LTCF. Methods: We extracted and analyzed data collected by three Italian institutions (i.e., Italian Statistician Institute ISTAT, Italian N.I.H, Milan Health Unit) about the number of deaths among older people living in the community and among LTCF residents during the pandemic and the previous years. We also compared the observed mortality rate among LTCF residents in each Italian Region with the corresponding expected number of deaths of the general older adult population to obtain an observed/expected ratio (O/E ratio). Results: During the pandemic, about 8.5% ( N = 6,797) of Italian older adults residents in LTCF died. Findings resulting from the O/E ratio suggest that LTCF residents (in particular in the Lombardy Region) show higher mortality rates when compared to expected values of mortality rates among the older general population living in the community. Furthermore, we found that the risk of death among LTCF residents increased about 4 times during the pandemic when compared to the previous years. Conclusions: Mortality rates in LTCF were high during the pandemic, especially in Lombardy. Possible causes of higher mortality rates in LTCF and suggestions for specific targeted interventions are discussed

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Disease · Environmental health · Long-term care · Outbreak · Pandemic · Pathology · Psychiatry · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Term (time · Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes · Global Health Care Issues · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Epidemiology · Gerontology · Virology

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