Characteristics of Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease Who Were Hospitalized during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Secondary Data Analysis

Dingyue Wang (), Cristina C. Hendrix, Youran Lee, Christian Noval and Nancy Crego
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Dingyue Wang: School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Cristina C. Hendrix: School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Youran Lee: School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Christian Noval: School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Nancy Crego: School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 6, 1-9

Abstract: We aim to investigate the relationships between the population characteristics of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and their Healthcare Utilization (HU) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Electronic health records (EHRs) were utilized. The study sample comprised those with ICD-10 codes G30.0, G30.1, G30.8, and G30.9 between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021. Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression were used. The analysis utilized 1537 patient records with an average age of 82.20 years (SD = 7.71); 62.3% were female. Patients had an average of 1.64 hospitalizations (SD = 1.18) with an average length of stay (ALOS) of 7.45 days (SD = 9.13). Discharge dispositions were primarily home (55.1%) and nursing facilities (32.4%). Among patients with multiple hospitalizations, a negative correlation was observed between age and both ALOS (r = −0.1264, p = 0.0030) and number of hospitalizations (r = −0.1499, p = 0.0004). Predictors of longer ALOS included male gender ( p = 0.0227), divorced or widowed ( p = 0.0056), and the use of Medicare Advantage and other private insurance ( p = 0.0178). Male gender ( p = 0.0050) and Black race ( p = 0.0069) were associated with a higher hospitalization frequency. We recommend future studies including the co-morbidities of AD patients, larger samples, and longitudinal data.

Keywords: healthcare utilization; Alzheimer’s disease; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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