The sweeping study, published in the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, analyzed the health records of 61.9 million people 18 years old and above in the United States between Feb. 1 and Aug. 21, 2020, The New York Times reports. The data set considered for the study was one the largest used in COVID research so far, covering one-fifth of the population of the U.S. with information from 317,000 health care providers and 360 hospitals from all 50 states, according to the authors. After parsing data, the researchers found that 810 patients had dementia out of a group of 15,770 who had tested positive for COVID-19. When adjustments for certain demographic factors such as sex, age, and race were made, the researchers discovered that patients with dementia were more than three times as likely to catch COVID-19, with the group only narrowing slightly to twice as likely when other physical conditions or residency in a nursing home were accounted for. And for more risk factors that should be on your radar, check out If You’ve Had This Common Illness, You’re More Likely to Die From COVID. The researchers also analyzed hospitalization and death rates for the subset of patients, discovering that COVID patients with dementia were also 2.6 times more likely to have been hospitalized and 4.4 times more likely to die than patients without dementia when demographic conditions such as nursing home residency, age, or other preexisting conditions were factored in. “It’s pretty convincing in suggesting that there’s something about dementia that makes you more vulnerable,” Kristine Yaffe, MD, a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study, told The New York Times. And for more on how to stay safe from infection, find out why Dr. Fauci Says You Need One of These at Home to Avoid COVID. The study’s wide data set also found other tragic demographic trends. Results showed that Black patients with dementia were almost three times more likely to become infected with COVID-19 than white patients with dementia, with the study’s authors concluding that their findings highlight “the need to protect patients with dementia, especially those who are Black.” And for more regular COVID news sent right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Experts point out that with certain high-risk factors taken into consideration, the reason dementia patients may be more likely to catch the coronavirus could be the result of their daily environment. “Folks with dementia are more dependent on those around them to do the safety stuff, to remember to wear a mask, to keep people away through social distancing,” Kenneth Langa, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the study, told The Times. “There is the cognitive impairment and the fact that they are more socially at risk.” And for more on what might protect you from getting sick, check out This Rare Trait Could Keep You Safe From COVID, According to Doctors.
