Older Patients With Dementia at Increased Risk for Flu Mortality

An epidemiological study on pneumonia and influenza in adults aged 65 and over reports that patients with dementia are diagnosed with flu less frequently, have shorter hospital stays, and have a 50% higher rate of death than those without dementia. The three-pronged study, which analyzed geographic and demographic patterns of pneumonia and influenza and the relationship between them and healthcare accessibility, was published online in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

“The increased mortality of older patients with dementia hospitalized for flu may be indicative of inadequacies in healthcare quality and accessibility. It could be beneficial to refine guidelines for the immunization, testing, and treatment of flu in older patients with dementia when planning for the possibility of a flu pandemic,” says first and senior author Elena Naumova, PhD, a professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

“Limited access to specialized healthcare services can delay diagnosis and treatment of the flu, causing it to progress to pneumonia, the fifth leading cause of death among the elderly. This study has helped us identify this vulnerable population, and now further study is needed to confirm the findings and assess the testing and vaccination policies for older patients with dementia,” says Naumova.

Study data were obtained from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, and covered a span of five years, from 1998 to 2002. Of the 36 million hospitalization records for adults aged 65 and older, more than six million records documented a pneumonia and influenza diagnosis. Of these records, over 800,000 (13%) also showed dementia. The demographic and geographic patterns of pneumonia and influenza hospitalizations and their links with hospital accessibility were explored. Pneumonia and influenza admissions, length of stay in a hospital, and mortality rates among elderly with dementia were compared to national estimates.

— Source: Tufts University