Morkavuk Gulin, Demirkol Ayca, Berber Gokalp Erdem, Demirhan Velanur, Sahin Emine Simla, Akyuz Pelin, Leventoglu Alev
Neurology, Ufuk University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, TUR.
Medicine, Ufuk University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, TUR.
Cureus. 2021 Nov 27;13(11):e19934. doi: 10.7759/cureus.19934. eCollection 2021 Nov.
Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 2020. There have been significant changes in our lives due to the measures used to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dementia patients are one of the most vulnerable groups who have difficulties in adapting to this situation. Our study aimed to compare the admission rate to the hospital and dementia characteristics of dementia patients in the COVID-19 pandemic and pre-pandemic periods. Methods Dementia patients admitted to the neurology outpatient clinic during the pandemic and pre-pandemic periods were included in the study. In these two periods, age, gender, dementia type, stage, age of onset, mini-mental state examination, reason for admission, vitamin B12, vitamin D, folic acid levels, brain imaging, electroencephalogram results were analysed retrospectively. Dementia characteristics and vitamin levels were compared. Results Two hundred and two dementia patients were included in the study. When the reasons for admission to the hospital were examined, the number of applications with the complaint of forgetfulness was highest in the pre-COVID period (53.1%); this rate was 37.8% in the COVID period. Also, 9.5% of patients were admitted for a drug prescription or medication report during the COVID period, while this rate was 1.6% in the pre-COVID period. Brain imaging was performed on 91 patients in the pre-COVID period, while 42 patients underwent imaging in the COVID period. Conclusions Although this study was performed with a limited population, it indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic indirectly affects the clinical conditions of people living with dementia.
背景 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID - 19）疫情于 2020 年 3 月被世界卫生组织认定为大流行病。由于用于预防 COVID - 19 大流行传播的措施，我们的生活发生了重大变化。痴呆症患者是最难适应这种情况的弱势群体之一。我们的研究旨在比较 COVID - 19 大流行期间和大流行前痴呆症患者的住院率及痴呆症特征。方法 纳入在大流行期间和大流行前到神经内科门诊就诊的痴呆症患者。对这两个时期患者的年龄、性别、痴呆类型、阶段、发病年龄、简易精神状态检查、入院原因、维生素 B12、维生素 D、叶酸水平、脑部影像学检查、脑电图结果进行回顾性分析。比较痴呆症特征和维生素水平。结果 本研究共纳入 202 例痴呆症患者。在检查入院原因时，COVID 疫情前因健忘主诉就诊的人数最多（53.1%）；在 COVID 期间这一比例为 37.8%。此外，在 COVID 期间，9.5%的患者因药物处方或用药报告入院，而在 COVID 疫情前这一比例为 1.6%。在 COVID 疫情前对 91 例患者进行了脑部影像学检查，在 COVID 期间有 42 例患者接受了影像学检查。结论 尽管本研究的样本量有限，但表明 COVID - 19 大流行间接影响了痴呆症患者的临床状况。
