tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Ann Epidemiol
. 2020 Dec 15;S1047-2797(20)30432-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.12.003. Online ahead of print.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Veterans Receiving Care at Veterans Health Administration Facilities
Jessica Luo[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sujee Jeyapalina[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Gregory J Stoddard[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Alvin C Kwok[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jayant P Agarwal[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Purpose: Veterans represent a significant proportion of the USA population (7%), and the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in this group of vulnerable patients has been largely overlooked. This analysis reports COVID-19 patient demographics, infection, mortality, and case-fatality rates in the veteran population.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis using the VA informatics and computing infrastructure tool to assess the veterans' COVID-19 infections at the Veterans Affairs facilities from March 4th to June 23rd, 2020.
Results: Of the 10,621,580 veterans in this analysis, 59.7% were >65yo, 92.5% were male, 68.7% were white, and 14.2% were black. Veterans >65yo comprised 52.1% of cases and 89.9% of deaths. The relative mortality and case-fatality rates of black veterans, when compared to white veterans, were 2.83 (CI 2.56 - 3.14; p<0.001) and 0.75 (CI 0.68 - 0.82; p<0.001), respectively. Among the veterans who died from COVID-19, 87.4% had a history of cardiovascular disease, 56.5% had a history of diabetes, and 33.6% were obese.
Conclusion: Elderly veterans (>65yo) and veterans with a history of cardiovascular disease represent a large proportion of the VA COVID-19 cases and deaths. Black veterans had higher mortality rates, but lower case fatality rates when compared to white veterans.
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus Disease 2019; Epidemiology; Veterans.
. 2020 Dec 15;S1047-2797(20)30432-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.12.003. Online ahead of print.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Veterans Receiving Care at Veterans Health Administration Facilities
Jessica Luo[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sujee Jeyapalina[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Gregory J Stoddard[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Alvin C Kwok[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jayant P Agarwal[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33338646
- DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.12.003
Abstract
Purpose: Veterans represent a significant proportion of the USA population (7%), and the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in this group of vulnerable patients has been largely overlooked. This analysis reports COVID-19 patient demographics, infection, mortality, and case-fatality rates in the veteran population.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis using the VA informatics and computing infrastructure tool to assess the veterans' COVID-19 infections at the Veterans Affairs facilities from March 4th to June 23rd, 2020.
Results: Of the 10,621,580 veterans in this analysis, 59.7% were >65yo, 92.5% were male, 68.7% were white, and 14.2% were black. Veterans >65yo comprised 52.1% of cases and 89.9% of deaths. The relative mortality and case-fatality rates of black veterans, when compared to white veterans, were 2.83 (CI 2.56 - 3.14; p<0.001) and 0.75 (CI 0.68 - 0.82; p<0.001), respectively. Among the veterans who died from COVID-19, 87.4% had a history of cardiovascular disease, 56.5% had a history of diabetes, and 33.6% were obese.
Conclusion: Elderly veterans (>65yo) and veterans with a history of cardiovascular disease represent a large proportion of the VA COVID-19 cases and deaths. Black veterans had higher mortality rates, but lower case fatality rates when compared to white veterans.
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus Disease 2019; Epidemiology; Veterans.