Course and Lethality of SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic in Nursing Homes after Vaccination in Florence, Italy.

Evidence on the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in nursing home (NHs) residents is limited. We examined the impact of the BNT162b2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine on the course of the epidemic in NHs in the Florence Health District, Italy, before and after vaccination. Moreover, we assessed survival and hospitalization by vaccination status in SARS-CoV-2-positive cases occurring during the post-vaccination period. We calculated the weekly infection rates during the pre-vaccination (1 October-26 December 2020) and post-vaccination period (27 December 2020-31 March 2021). Cox analysis was used to analyze survival by vaccination status. The study involved 3730 residents (mean age 84, 69% female). Weekly infection rates fluctuated during the pre-vaccination period (1.8%-6.5%) and dropped to zero during the post-vaccination period. Nine unvaccinated (UN), 56 partially vaccinated (PV) and 35 fully vaccinated (FV) residents tested SARS-CoV-2+ during the post-vaccination period. FV showed significantly lower hospitalization and mortality rates than PV and UV (hospitalization: FV 3%, PV 14%, UV 33%; mortality: FV 6%, PV 18%, UV 56%). The death risk was 84% and 96% lower in PV (HR 0.157, 95%CI 0.049-0.491) and FV (HR 0.037, 95%CI 0.006-0.223) versus UV. SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was followed by a marked decline in infection rates and was associated with lower morbidity and mortality among infected NH residents.

Caring for nursing home residents with COVID-19: a "hospital-at-nursing home" intermediate care intervention.

BACKGROUND: Nursing home (NH) residents have been dramatically affected by COVID-19, with extremely high rates of hospitalization and mortality. AIMS: To describe the features and impact of an assistance model involving an intermediate care mobile medical specialist team (GIROT, Gruppo Intervento Rapido Ospedale Territorio) aimed at delivering "hospital-at-nursing home" care to NH residents with COVID-19 in Florence, Italy. METHODS: The GIROT activity was set-up during the first wave of the pandemic (W1, March-April 2020) and became a structured healthcare model during the second (W2, October 2020-January 2021). The activity involved (1) infection transmission control among NHs residents and staff, (2) comprehensive geriatric assessment including prognostication and geriatric syndromes management, (3) on-site diagnostic assessment and protocol-based treatment of COVID-19, (4) supply of nursing personnel to understaffed NHs. To estimate the impact of the GIROT intervention, we reported hospitalization and infection lethality rates recorded in SARS-CoV-2-positive NH residents during W1 and W2. RESULTS: The GIROT activity involved 21 NHs (1159 residents) and 43 NHs (2448 residents) during W1 and W2, respectively. The percentage of infected residents was higher in W2 than in W1 (64.5% vs. 38.8%), while both hospitalization and lethality rates significantly decreased in W2 compared to W1 (10.1% vs 58.2% and 23.4% vs 31.1%, respectively). DISCUSSION: Potentiating on-site care in the NHs paralleled a decrease of hospital admissions with no increase of lethality. CONCLUSIONS: An innovative "hospital-at-nursing home" patient-centred care model based on comprehensive geriatric assessment may provide a valuable contribution in fighting COVID-19 in NH residents.

Clinical impact of recovery room on post-operative walking performance in elderly patients submitted to hip surgery: a real-world analysis.

BACKGROUND: Strategies aimed at favouring functional recovery after surgery for hip fracture may be of clinical importance. AIMS: To test the clinical utility of a recovery room (RR) in terms of postoperative walking performance in an elderly population submitted to hip fracture surgery. METHODS: Postoperative walking performance at rollator was assessed in 242 consecutive orthogeriatric patients able to follow the institutional physiotherapy protocol starting on day 1 after hip surgery. Group 1 (n = 186, age 86.0 ± 9.3 years, 24.7% male) was admitted to the RR for postoperative monitoring, whereas Group 2 (n = 56, age 85.2 ± 5.7 years, 23.2% male) was directly admitted to the ward. The best performance observed during the first three postoperative days was considered. RESULTS: Group 1 showed a better walking performance than Group 2, with a 50% lower probability of walking < 5 m (relative risk 0.51, p = 0.0005) and a two-fold higher probability of walking > 10 m (relative risk 2.10, p = 0.0005). Multivariable analysis confirmed a favourable independent effect of the RR stay on walking performance (ß = 0.205, p = 0.005). DISCUSSION: Admission to the RR in elderly patients submitted to hip fracture surgery could have an independent beneficial effect on postoperative walking functional recovery. This beneficial effect could probably depend on the possibility of ensuring a more rapid management of postoperative issues CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the clinical utility of a RR implementation in facilities where hip surgery in elderly subjects is routinely performed.