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INTRODUCTION: We describe the clinical features and inpatient trajectories of older adults hospitalized with COVID-19 and explore relationships with frailty. METHODS: This retrospective observational study included older adults admitted as an emergency to a University Hospital who were diagnosed with COVID-19. Patient characteristics and hospital outcomes, primarily inpatient death or death within 14 days of discharge, were described for the whole cohort and by frailty status. Associations with mortality were further evaluated using Cox Proportional Hazards Regression (Hazard Ratio (HR), 95% Confidence Interval). RESULTS: 214 patients (94 women) were included of whom 142 (66.4%) were frail with a median Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) score of 6. Frail compared to nonfrail patients were more likely to present with atypical symptoms including new or worsening confusion (45.1% vs. 20.8%, p < 0.001) and were more likely to die (66% vs. 16%, p = 0.001). Older age, being male, presenting with high illness acuity and high frailty were independent predictors of death and a dose-response association between frailty and mortality was observed (CFS 1-4: reference; CFS 5-6: HR 1.78, 95% CI 0.90, 3.53; CFS 7-8: HR 2.57, 95% CI 1.26, 5.24). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should have a low threshold for testing for COVID-19 in older and frail patients during periods of community viral transmission, and diagnosis should prompt early advanced care planning.
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OBJECTIVE: Diabetic patients exhibit a higher cardiovascular risk compared to people without diabetes. The use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is gaining popularity in this population. Night-time SBP has consistently been shown to be a potent predictor of cardiovascular risk in the normal population. We studied the predictive value of night-time ABPM in a cohort of diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: At baseline, when not on antihypertensive medication, 11â291 patients (5326 men, mean age 54.6 years) underwent ABPM. Using a computerized national registry of death, mortality outcome was ascertained. Among 859 diabetic patients with a mean follow-up of 5.3 years, there were 74 deaths. RESULTS: Compared to people without diabetes, those with diabetes had daytime and night-time SBP of 146.4 vs. 145.1 (Pâ=âNS) and 131.2 vs. 126.4 âmmHg (Pâ<â0.0001), respectively. As a consequence, more diabetic patients had a non-dipping night-time SBP profile (47.4 vs. 35.5%; Pâ=ââ<â0.0001). In a Cox proportional-hazards model, night-time SBP was an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality in diabetic patients after adjustment for sex, age, smoking history, previous cardiovascular events, BMI and daytime SBP. The resultant hazard ratio for a 10-mmHg increase in night-time SBP for total cardiovascular, stroke and cardiac mortality was 1.32 (1.12-1.69), 1.95 (1.18-3.20) and 1.24 (0.99-1.56), respectively. CONCLUSION: Night-time SBP is a significant predictor of cardiovascular mortality in patients with diabetes.
