Health Outcomes for Older Patients with Chronic Diseases During the First Pandemic Year

Abstract

Background: 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.