Consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on complex multimorbid elderly: Follow-up of a community-based cohort. SAMAC3 Study.
Maria Ruzafa-Martinez, Jessica García-González, José Miguel Morales-Asencio and 5 others
PMID 36537349WHAT IT FOUND
During pandemic restrictions, older adults with several long-term conditions living at home worsened in daily function and cognition.
Nurse visits and hospital admissions fell, while mobility, self-care, social interaction and constipation diagnoses increased.
Key findings
01Over one year, the older adults with multiple chronic conditions living at home showed statistically significant worsening in everyday functional ability and cognitive state.
02Face-to-face contacts with community nurses fell from a mean of 6 every 3 months to 3.6, while hospital admissions, emergency visits and falls also decreased.
03The nurses recorded significant increases in diagnoses of impaired physical mobility, impaired ambulation, dressing self-care deficit, constipation and impaired social interaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
There was no comparison cohort, so the observed changes cannot be separated from the pandemic, ageing or the usual care model. The sample was small and had many variables, which the authors say could reduce power and miss some changes. Participants were selected by nurses through convenience sampling in one Spanish health area, so results may not apply elsewhere. Follow-up was only 1 year, so long-term effects of reduced visits, admissions and falls were not observed. 14 patients died and 1 changed address, so 82 of 97 included patients remained.
Declared interests
The study was financed by the Fundación Poncemar through the University of Murcia and the Poncemar Chair. The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the lower hospital admissions, emergency visits and falls as evidence that health improved. There was no comparison cohort, and function and cognition worsened while nurse contacts fell.