COVID-19 patients with dementia continued to demonstrate a higher likelihood of death , 1.8 times ( CI : 1.5-2.3 ) more likely to die , but did not have a higher risk of hospitalization or ICU admission and had a lower risk of intubation than COVID-19 patients without dementia . After removing nursing home residents , the association of dementia with death persisted , with an increased relative risk of 2.0 times ( CI : 1.3-3.1 ).
Discussion
Our study documents the increased risk for poor outcomes due to COVID-19 for specific chronic conditions in Arkansas . These findings will assist Arkansas physicians to provide advice to patients to mitigate their risk and potentially identify individuals for enhanced protection and early vaccination , when available .
Our findings depicting elevated risk for severe outcomes among COVID-19 patients with a history of kidney failure , immunocompromised conditions , serious heart conditions , and diabetes mellitus are consistent with those documented by the CDC . The results presented herein confirm similar elevated risks as previously documented . However , to our knowledge , we present a new association between history of dementia and death in Arkansas COVID-19 cases , particularly for those not in a nursing home setting .
Limitations to this study include an inability to include individuals not in the APCD . Another limitation is that we were not able to assess the degree to which obesity affects outcomes of COVID-19 infections due to insufficient data on weight status among positive patients . Arkansas has one of the highest obesity rates in the U . S . with 37.3 % of adults estimated to be experiencing obesity , which has been shown to be one of strongest indicators for the worse outcomes of COVID-19 . 5-6
Ongoing use of the APCD to examine ongoing effects of COVID-19 , new associations of conditions associated with poor outcomes , and the health care costs associated with COVID-19 are anticipated .
References
1 . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . ( 2020 ). People with Certain Medical Conditions . Coronavirus Disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ). Retrieved from https :// www . cdc . gov / coronavirus / 2019-ncov / need-extra-precautions / people-with-medical-conditions . html ? C- DC _ AA _ refVal = https % 3A % 2F % 2Fwww . cdc . gov % 2Fcoronavirus % 2F2019-ncov % 2Fneed-extra-precautions % 2Fgroups-at-higher-risk . html #
2 . U . S . Cancer Statistics Working Group . U . S .
Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool , based on 2019 submission data ( 1999- 2017 ): U . S . Department of Health and Human Services , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute ; https :// www . cdc . gov / cancer / dataviz , released in June 2020 .
3 . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . ( 2020 ). Older Adults . Coronavirus Disease 2019 ( COVID-19 ). Retrieved from https :// www . cdc . gov / coronavirus / 2019-ncov / need-extra-precautions / older-adults . html
4 . United States Department of Agriculture . Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes https :// www . ers . usda . gov / data-products / rural-urban-commuting-area-codes . aspx , released in August 2020 .
5 . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . BRFFS Prevalence & Trends Data : National Center for Chronic Disease and Prevention and Health Promotion , Division of Population Health ; https :// www . cdc . gov / brfss / brfssprevalence /, released in September 2017 .
6 . Popkin , B . M ., Du , S ., Green , W . D ., et al . ( 2020 ). Individuals with obesity and COVID-19 : A global perspective on the epidemology and biological relationships . Obesity Reviews , 1-17 . doi : 10.1111 / obr . 13128
PEOPLE + EVENTS OBITUARies
sPRINGDALE - Lee Bryan Parker Jr ., MD , passed away August 13 , 2020 .
Dr . Parker is survived by wife Beverly ; children Susan ( David ) Brewer , Lobby ( Doug ) Beecher , Steven ( Betsey ) Parker , and Lynn Hegwood ; 10 grandchildren ; and 18 great grandchildren . He was the original director of the Area Health Education Center ( AHEC ), Northwest . His passion was teaching . Even after retirement , until last year he served as an adjunct faculty member training family-practice physicians .
LITTLE ROCK - William “ Bill ” H . Riley Jr ., MD , passed away August 28 , 2020 .
Dr . Riley practiced medicine in Little Rock for over 50 years and was a co-founder of The Family Clinic , now St . Vincent Family Clinic . He served as assistant clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at UAMS . He was a past president of the medical staff at Baptist Health and was a member of the medical staff at SVI . He was a member of Pulaski County Medical Society , Arkansas Medical Society , American Medical Society , and Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians . He was a Charter diplomat of the American Board of Family Practice and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians .
Dr . Riley is survived by his wife Robbie Braunfisch Riley ; daughters Robin ( Robert ) Smith , Rayma Ross , and Beth ( Richard ) Richard ; and stepsons Albert ( Traci ) Braunfisch and Pete ( Kristen ) Braunfisch . He is also survived by 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren .
LITTLE ROCK - K . David McKelvey , MD , passed away August 26 , 2020 .
After completing his internship , David joined the U . S . Air Force as a Captain in the
Medical Corps and was detailed to the U . S . Army . David served a two-year tour of duty in Vietnam ; for 13 months of this , he served as an anesthesiologist in Long Binh . After seeing so much pain and death in Vietnam , David decided that he ’ d much rather bring life into the world ; he moved to Memphis , where he completed his OB-GYN Residency at the John Gaston Hospital / University of Tennessee . After residency , David practiced as an OB-GYN for 45 years . He was the oldest surviving partner of The Women ’ s Clinic , to which he devoted much of his life and from which he retired in 2010 after 36 years of service . It has been estimated that David delivered thousands of babies during his career .
Dr . McKelvey is survived by wife Cheri ; children Kent D . McKelvey Jr . ( Elise Higdon ), Samantha McKelvey ( Brian Teeter ), Betsy McKelvey Peeler ( Michael ), Matthew McKelvey ; and five grandchildren .
118 • The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society www . ArkMed . org