COVID-19 in older people hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital in Brazil

• Grant number: 23/04954-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Keika Inouye
• Grantee: Laura Alqueja Azorli
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In 2020, an infectious respiratory disease called COVID-19 emerged that quickly spread across the world and became a pandemic. Since then, health institutions, including psychiatric hospitals, have adopted strict protocols to prevent and contain the disease. Care was intensified for the older people population due to the fact that advanced age is a risk factor for complications and deaths resulting from infection with the coronavirus. The present study aims to analyze the prevalence of COVID-19 in older people admitted to a psychiatric hospital. This is a quantitative observational study carried out with patients hospitalized at the Instituto Bairral de Psiquiatria in 2021 and 2022. Through secondary data made available by the hospital itself, descriptive statistical analyzes will be carried out to characterize the profile and prevalence of COVID-19 in hospitalized older people who had flu-like symptoms. In addition, comparative analyzes will be carried out between groups of older people who had flu symptoms (who tested positive and negative for COVID-19) in relation to length of stay, demographic and health characteristics. The significance level adopted in the analyzes will be pd0.05. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of São Carlos (CAAE nº 60435122.6.0000.5504, Protocol nº 5.643.115).