UCL Research Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 28;13(1):5026. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31241-3.
This research explored experiences across three cognitive function groups (no impairment, mild impairment, and dementia) with respect to shielding (either self-isolating or staying at home), COVID-19 infection, and access to health/care services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyses were conducted using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) COVID-19 sub-study collected in 2020. We report bivariate estimates across our outcomes of interest by cognitive function group along with multivariate regression results adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, and health characteristics. Rates of shielding were high across all cognitive function groups and three measured time points (April, June/July, and Nov/Dec 2020), ranging from 74.6% (95% confidence interval 72.9-76.2) for no impairment in Nov/Dec to 96.7% (92.0-98.7) for dementia in April (bivariate analysis). 44.1% (33.5-55.3) of those with dementia experienced disruption in access to community health services by June/July compared to 34.9% (33.2-36.7) for no impairment. A higher proportion of those with mild impairment reported hospital-based cancellations in June/July (23.1% (20.1-26.4)) and Nov/Dec (16.3% (13.4-19.7)) than those with no impairment (18.0% (16.6-19.4) and 11.7% (10.6-12.9)). Multivariate adjusted models found that those with dementia were 2.4 (1.1-5.0) times more likely than those with no impairment to be shielding in June/July. All other multivariate analyses found no statistically significant differences between cognitive function groups. People with dementia were more likely than people with no impairment to be shielding early in the pandemic, but importantly they were no more likely to experience disruption to services or hospital treatment.
这项研究探讨了三个认知功能组（无损伤、轻度损伤和痴呆）在 COVID-19 大流行期间在以下方面的经验：（自我隔离或待在家中的）屏蔽措施、COVID-19 感染以及获得卫生/保健服务的机会。分析使用了 2020 年从英国老龄化纵向研究（ELSA）COVID-19 子研究中收集的数据进行。我们报告了按认知功能组划分的我们感兴趣的结果的双变量估计值，以及调整了人口统计学、社会经济、地理和健康特征的多变量回归结果。在所有认知功能组和三个测量时间点（2020 年 4 月、6/7 月和 11/12 月），屏蔽率均很高，从无损伤的 11/12 月的 74.6%（95%置信区间 72.9-76.2）到 4 月痴呆症的 96.7%（92.0-98.7%）（双变量分析）。与无损伤者相比，6/7 月有 44.1%（33.5-55.3）的痴呆症患者经历了社区卫生服务的中断，而 34.9%（33.2-36.7）的无损伤者经历了社区卫生服务的中断。6/7 月（23.1%（20.1-26.4）和 11/12 月（16.3%（13.4-19.7））报告医院取消的轻度损伤者比例高于无损伤者（18.0%（16.6-19.4）和 11.7%（10.6-12.9））。多变量调整模型发现，与无损伤者相比，痴呆症患者在 6/7 月进行屏蔽的可能性是其 2.4 倍（1.1-5.0）。所有其他多变量分析均未发现认知功能组之间存在统计学上的显著差异。与无损伤者相比，痴呆症患者在大流行早期更有可能进行屏蔽，但重要的是，他们不太可能经历服务中断或医院治疗。
