Clinical Interventions in Aging (Mar 2024)
Health Outcomes for Older Patients with Chronic Diseases During the First Pandemic Year
Abstract
Priscila Matovelle,1,2,* Bárbara Oliván-Blázquez,3– 5,* Marta Domínguez-García,6,7 Verónica Casado-Vicente,8,9 Beatriz Pascual de la Pisa,10– 12 Rosa Magallón-Botaya2– 4,8 1Department of Geriatrics, San Juan de Dios Hospital, Zaragoza, Spain; 2Department of Medicine, Psychiatry and Dermatology, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; 3Group B21-20R, Health Research Institute of Aragon (IISA), Zaragoza, Spain; 4Network for Research on Chronicity, Primary Care, and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), RD21/0016/0005, Zaragoza, Spain; 5Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; 6Primary Care Research Unit (GAIAP), Aragon Health Research Institute (IISA), Zaragoza, Spain; 7Aragonese Healthcare Service, Zaragoza, Spain; 8Parquesol Primary Care Center, Valladolid, Spain; 9Department of Medicine, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain; 10Santa María de Gracia Primary Care, Seville, Spain; 11Department of Medicine, University of Seville, Seville, Spain; 12Network for Research on Chronicity, Primary Care, and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), RD21/0016/0015, Zaragoza, Spain*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Bárbara Oliván-Blázquez, Email [email protected]: Worldwide, chronic diseases are prevalent among the older adults, significantly affecting their health and healthcare system. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these challenges, disrupting healthcare services. Our study assesses the impact on older individuals with chronic diseases who were not infected with COVID-19, analyzing comorbidities, medication use, mortality rates, and resource utilization using real data from Aragon, Spain.Methods: A retrospective observational study, conducted in Aragon, Spain, focused on individuals aged 75 and older with at least one chronic disease, who were not infected of COVID-19. The research used actual data collected during three distinct periods: the first covered the six months prior to the pandemic, the second the six months after the lockdown, and the third the period between six and twelve months. Key variables included socio-demographics, comorbidities, clinical parameters, medication use, and health services utilization.Results: We included 128.130 older adults. Mean age was 82.88 years, with 60.3% being women. The most common chronic diseases were hypertension (73.2%), dyslipidemia (52.5%), and dorsopathies (31.5%). More than 90% had more than 2 conditions. A notable decline in new chronic disease diagnoses was observed, particularly pronounced in the six to twelve months period after lockdown. Although statistically significant differences were observed in all clinical variables analyzed, they were considered clinically irrelevant. Furthermore, a decrease in healthcare services utilization and medication prescriptions was reported.Conclusion: Our study highlights a decrease in new chronic disease diagnoses, ongoing reductions in healthcare utilization, and medication prescriptions for older adults with pre-existing chronic conditions, unaffected by COVID-19.Keywords: chronic diseases, older adults, COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare utilization, comorbidities
