COVID patients with disability prone to longer hospital stay, readmission

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients with a disability were more likely than peers without a disability to have a longer hospital stay and be readmitted—but were no more likely to die in the hospital or be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), finds a retrospective study today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).University of Toronto researchers led the study of 1,279 adults diagnosed as having COVID-19 and released from one of seven hospitals in Ontario from Jan 1 to Nov 30, 2020—well before the recent highly transmissible Delta and Omicron variants were circulating.The team compared rates of in-hospital death, ICU admission, hospital length of stay, and unplanned 30-day readmission among those with and without a physical disability, impaired hearing or vision, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or intellectual or developmental disability."Consideration of disability-related needs has largely been absent from the COVID-19 response, with vaccine eligibility driven primarily by age and medical comorbidity, limited accommodations made for patients with disabilities who are in hospital, and disability data often not being captured in surveillance programs," the researchers wrote.36% longer hospital stays, 77% more readmissionsOf the 1,279 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, median age was 66 years, 58% were men, and 22.3% had a disability, including physical disability (74.4%), traumatic brain injury or intellectual or developmental disability (8.4%), impaired hearing or vision (6.3%), or multiple disabilities (10.9%).Patients with a disability were older than those without a disability and more likely to be women, live in long-term care facilities, and have chronic conditions.