COVID-19 Case Fatality and Alzheimer's Disease

J Alzheimers Dis. 2021;84(4):1447-1452. doi: 10.3233/JAD-215161.

Abstract

Previous studies have identified dementia as a risk factor for death from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, it is unclear whether Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 case fatality rate. In a retrospective cohort study, we identified 387,841 COVID-19 patients through TriNetX. After adjusting for demographics and comorbidities, we found that AD patients had higher odds of dying from COVID-19 compared to patients without AD (Odds Ratio: 1.20, 95%confidence interval: 1.09-1.32, p < 0.001). Interestingly, we did not observe increased mortality from COVID-19 among patients with vascular dementia. These data are relevant to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2); case fatality; dementia with Lewy bodies; frontotemporal dementia; vascular dementia.

Publication types

  • Letter
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease* / complications
  • Alzheimer Disease* / mortality
  • COVID-19* / complications
  • COVID-19* / mortality
  • Dementia, Vascular / complications
  • Humans
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Factors