Profile of non-vaccinated seniors with COVID-19 hospitalized during the third pandemic wave
Authors:
Martin Dúbrava; Jakub Bořucký; Anna Koromházová; Jana Májeková; Samuel Matta; Lucia Pastiranová; Ivan Schmiedt; Katarína Štugelová; Ján Šuba ml.; Martina Valentová; Jarmila Jánošiová
Authors‘ workplace:
I. klinika geriatrie LF UK a UN Bratislava
Published in:
Geriatrie a Gerontologie 2022, 11, č. 3: 109-117
Category:
Original Article
Overview
Despite tangible advances in the treatment of COVID-19, it is still a high-risk disease quoad vitam, especially for the elderly. Vaccination remains the strongest guarantee to minimize the risks of the pandemic. In Slovakia, we have not yet achieved vaccination level against COVID-19, which would ensure a substantial reduction in the COVID-19 threat from the public health standpoint. In a retrospective observational study, we analysed the vaccination coverage of hospitalized seniors (87 patients, average age 80.3 years) when vaccination was already readily available. Nevertheless, 72.6% of hospitalized were not vaccinated. We did not find any relationship between the absence of vaccination and age, there was a quantitatively significant tendency for non-vaccination among women (80.9 vs. 62.5% in men; ns), people living in social care facilities were significantly more frequently vaccinated than those living at home (50.0 vs. 23.3%; p = 0.04), vaccinated patients were significantly more likely to have a university degree than the others (58.3 vs. 22.7%; p = 0.01). The reasons for non-vaccination were not identified in 73%, only 3.2% of patients were categorically against the vaccination and 9.5% of patients did not believe in the vaccine or were afraid of it. One hospitalized unvaccinated patient corresponded approximately to 374 unvaccinated people aged 65 and older in their region, one hospitalized vaccinated patient corresponded only to 3,953 vaccinated people in their region. Unvaccinated patients suffered from significant polymorbidity: in addition to COVID-19, they had on average of 14.2 diseases (of which 12.5 were chronic) out of 59 analysed diseases. In-hospital mortality was very high (48.3%). Although unvaccinated and vaccinated did not differ significantly in baseline characteristics (age, overall comorbidity, blood oxygen saturation before admission, length of hospital stay), the difference in mortality was evident in favour of the vaccinated (33.3 vs. 54.0% in the unvaccinated; ns). We are sure that our findings confirm the crucial importance of vaccination against the COVID-19.
Keywords:
vaccination – geriatrics – COVID-19 – polymorbidity
Sources
- Dúbrava M, Celec P, Pastorek M, et al. COVID-19, NETs a GER. Geriatria 2020; 26(2): 43–49.
- http://statdat.statistics.sk
- https://covid-19.nczisk.sk/sk
- Topinková E. Očkování u seniorů – nejen SARS-CoV-2 vakcinace. Geriatrie a Gerontologie 2021; 10(3): 117–126.
- Dúbrava M. COVID-19, ľudské práva a zdravotníci. Geriatria 2021; 27(2): 45–46.
- Ministerstvo zdravotníctva Slovenskej republiky. Odborné usmernenie Ministerstva zdravotníctva Slovenskej republiky vo veci kontraindikácie očkovania proti ochoreniu COVID-19. 15. 12. 2021, číslo Z108695-2021. www. health.gov.sk.
- Babčák M, Németh F. Ján Adam Reiman v kontexte dneška. Geriatria 2021; (27)2: 62–65.
- Nakayama DK. America‘s Original Immunization Controversy: The Tercentenary of the Boston Smallpox Epidemic of 1721. Am Surg 2022: 31348221074228.
- Jeyanathan M, Afkhami S, Smaill F et al. Immunological considerations for COVID-19 vaccine strategies. Nat Rev Immunol 2020; 20(10): 615–632.
- Report of clustering pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan City. Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, 2019. http:// wjw. wuhan.gov.cn/ front/web/show- Detail/ 2019123108989.
- Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, et al. A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med 2020; 382(8): 727– 733.
- Pfizer and BioNTech Announce Vaccine Candidate Against COVID- 19 Achieved Success in First Interim Analysis from Phase 3 Study. https://www.pfizer.com/news/ press-release/press-release-detail/ pfizer-and-biontech-announcevaccine- candidate-against
- Haque A, Pant AB. Efforts at COVID- 19 Vaccine Development: Challenges and Successes. Vaccines (Basel) 2020; 8(4): 739.
- WHO. COVID-19 vaccine tracker and landscape. https://www. who.int/ publications/m/ item/ draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate- vaccines
- Rotshild V, Hirsh-Raccah B, Miskin I et al. Comparing the clinical efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines: a systematic review and network metaanalysis. Sci Rep 2021; 11(1): 22777.
- Chen X, Huang H, Ju J, et al. Impact of vaccination on the COVID- 19 pandemic in U.S. states. Sci Rep 2022; 12(1): 1554.
- Heyerdahl LW, Vray M, Lana B, et al. Conditionality of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in European countries. Vaccine 2022: S0264- 410X(22)00099-8.
- Chovancová Z. Imunosenescence – západ slunce nad imunitním systémem. Vnitř Lék 2020; 66(6): 353–358.
- Králíčková P. Infekce covid-19 u seniorů – pohled imunologa. Geriatrie a Gerontologie 2020; 9(2): 61–65.
- Jeseňák M, Urbančíková I, Košturiak R. Vademékum očkovania proti COVID-19. Bratislava: A-medi management 2021: 187 s.
- Sprengholz P, Korn L, Eitze S, Betsch C. Allocation of COVID-19 vaccination: when public prioritisation preferences differ from official regulations. J Med Ethics 2021; 10:medethics- 2021-107339.
- Chen M, Yuan Y, Zhou Y, et al. Safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Infect Dis Poverty 2021; 10(1): 94.
- Solís Arce JS, Warren SS, Meriggi NF, et al. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in lowand middle-income countries. Nat Med 2021; 27(8): 1385–1394.
- Shakeel CS, Mujeeb AA, Mirza MS, et al. Global COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance: A Systematic Review of Associated Social and Behavioral Factors. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10(1): 110.
- Sallam M, Al-Sanafi M, Sallam M. A Global Map of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance Rates per Country: An Updated Concise Narrative Review. J Multidiscip Health 2022; 15: 21–45.
- Sherman SM, Sim J, Cutts M, et al. COVID-19 vaccination acceptability in the UK at the start of the vaccination programme: a nationally representative cross-sectional survey (CoVAccS - wave 2). Public Health 2022; 202: 1–9.
- Toth-Manikowski SM, Swirsky ES, Gandhi R, et al. COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among health care workers, communication, and policy-making. Am J Infect Control 2022; 50(1): 20–25.
- Heyerdahl LW, Dielen S, Nguyen T, et al. Doubt at the core: Unspoken vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers. Lancet Reg Health Eur 2022; 12: 100289.
- Papini F, Mazzilli S, Paganini D, et al. Healthcare Workers Attitudes, Practices and Sources of Information for COVID-19 Vaccination: An Italian National Survey. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022; 19(2): 733.
- Schug C, Erim Y, Geiser F, et al. Bereitschaft zur COVID-19-Impfung unter Beschäftigten im Gesundheitswesen in Deutschland. Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz 2022; 65(1): 74–85.
- Tsai R, Hervey J, Hoffman K, et al. COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Acceptance Among Individuals With Cancer, Autoimmune Diseases, or Other Serious Comorbid Conditions: Cross-sectional, Internet-Based Survey. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2022; 8(1): e29872.
- Berry SD, Baier RR, Syme M, et al. Strategies associated with COVID- 19 vaccine coverage among nursing home staff. J Am Geriatr Soc 2022; 70(1): 19–28.
- World Health Organization. Ten threats to global health in 2019. https:// www.who.int/ news-room/ spotlight/ten-threats-to-global- health-in-2019
- Ørstavik R. Inoculation against vaccine hesitancy? Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 2022; 142(1).
- Sallam M. COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Worldwide: A Concise Systematic Review of Vaccine Acceptance Rates. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9(2): 160.
- Global attitudes on a COVID-19 vaccine. Ipsos survey for the World Economic Forum. https://www. ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/ news/documents/2020-11/global- attitudes-on-a-covid-19-vaccine- oct-2020.pdf
- Haque A, Pant AB. Mitigating Covid-19 in the face of emerging virus variants, breakthrough infections and vaccine hesitancy. J Autoimmun 2022; 127: 102792.
- Tranter I, Magin P, van Driel ML. Immunising older Australians: Pre-COVID-19 vaccine perspectives from general practice training. Aust J Gen Pract 2021; 50(6): 388–393.
- Smith RG. Clinical data to be used as a foundation to combat Covid- 19 vaccine hesitancy. J Interprof Educ Pract 2022; 26: 100483.
- Cambon L, Schwarzinger M, Alla F. Increasing acceptance of a vaccination program for coronavirus disease 2019 in France: A challenge for one of the world‘s most vaccine-hesitant countries. Vaccine 2022; 40(2): 178–182.
- Karafillakis E, Van Damme P, Hendrickx G, et al. COVID-19 in Europe: new challenges for addressing vaccine hesitancy. Lancet 2022: S0140-6736(22)00150-7.
- World Health Organization. An ad hoc WHO technical consultation managing the COVID-19 infodemic: Call for action. 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/ i/item/9789240010314
- Yousuf H, van der Linden S, Bredius L, et al. A media intervention applying debunking versus non- -debunking content to combat vaccine misinformation in elderly in the Netherlands: A digital randomised trial. EClinicalMedicine 2021; 35:100881.
- Pullan S, Dey M. Vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccination in the time of COVID-19: A Google Trends analysis. Vaccine 2021; 39(14): 1877–1881.
- Gisondi MA, Barber R, Faust JS, et al. A Deadly Infodemic: Social Media and the Power of COVID-19 Misinformation. J Med Internet Res 2022; 24(2): e35552.
- Y eung AWK, Tosevska A, Klager E, et al. Medical and Health-Related Misinformation on Social Media: Bibliometric Study of the Scientific Literature. J Med Internet Res 2022; 24(1): e28152.
- Singh K, Lima G, Cha M, et al. Misinformation, believability, and vaccine acceptance over 40 countries: Takeaways from the initial phase of the COVID-19 infodemic. PLoS One 2022; 17(2): e0263381.
- Kelly BJ, Southwell BG, McCormack LA, et al. Predictors of willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. BMC Infect Dis 2021; 21(1): 338.
- Contoli B, Possenti V, Minardi V, et al. What Is the Willingness to Receive Vaccination Against COVID- 19 Among the Elderly in Italy? Data From the PASSI d‘Argento Surveillance System. Front Public Health 2021; 9: 736976.
- Sticchi L, Taramasso L, Di Biagio A, et al. Will vaccine hesitancy compromise our efforts to face the next SARS-CoV-2 epidemic wave? Hum Vaccin Immunother 2021; 17(6): 1664–1665.
- Lazarus JV, Wyka K, Rauh L, et al. Hesitant or Not? The Association of Age, Gender, and Education with Potential Acceptance of a COVID- 19 Vaccine: A Country-level Analysis. J Health Commun 2020; 25(10): 799–807.
- Umakanthan S, Lawrence S. Predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Germany: a cross-sectional, population-based study. Postgrad Med J 2022:postgradmedj- 2021-141365.
- Gallè F, Sabella EA, Roma P, et al. Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination in the Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study in Southern Italy. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9(11): 1222.
- Sterling P, Eyer J. Allostasis: A new paradigm to explain arousal pathology. 629–649. In: Fisher S, Reason J (Eds.). Handbook of life stress, cognition and health. New York: John Wiley & Sons 1988.
- Fadda M, Suggs LS, Albanese E. Willingness to vaccinate against Covid-19: A qualitative study involving older adults from Southern Switzerland. Vaccine X 2021; 8:100108.
Labels
Geriatrics General practitioner for adults Orthopaedic prostheticsArticle was published in
Geriatrics and Gerontology
2022 Issue 3
Most read in this issue
- Sleep disorders in the elderly
- Practical approach for identifying a forgetful patient using cognitive tests Amnesia Light and Brief Assessment (ALBA) and Picture naming and immediate recall (PICNIR) for a very quick evaluation of not only memory
- Immobilization syndrome in neurogeriatric rehabilitation
- The effect of higher carbohydrate intake on plasmatic glucose levels in patients in after care