Mortality and the use of Antithrombotic Therapies among Nursing Home Residents with COVID‐19

Brouns, Steffie H.; Brüggemann, Renée; Linkens, Aimée; Magdelijns, Fabienne J.; Joosten, Hanneke; Heijnen, Ron; ten Cate‐Hoek, Arina J.; Schols, Jos; ten Cate, Hugo; Spaetgens, Bart

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Nursing home (NH) residents are a vulnerable population, susceptible to respiratory disease outbreaks such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Poor outcome in COVID‐19 is at least partly attributed to hypercoagulability, resulting in a high incidence of thromboembolic complications. It is unknown whether commonly used antithrombotic therapies may protect the vulnerable NH population with COVID‐19 against mortality. This study aimed to investigate whether the use of oral antithrombotic therapy (OAT) was associated with a lower mortality in NH residents with COVID‐19. DESIGN: A retrospective case‐series SETTING: 14 NH facilities from the NH organization Envida, Maastricht, the Netherlands PARTICIPANTS: 101 NH residents with COVID‐19 were enrolled. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was all‐cause mortality. The association between age, sex, comorbidity, OAT, and mortality was assessed using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Overall mortality was 47.5% in NH residents from 14 NH facilities. Age, comorbidity and medication use were comparable among NH residents who survived and who died. OAT was associated with a lower mortality in NH residents with COVID‐19 in the univariable analysis (OR 0.89 95%CI 0.41‐1.95). However, additional adjustments for sex, age and comorbidity, attenuated this difference. Mortality in males was higher compared with female residents (OR 3.96 (95%CI 1.62‐9.65)). Male residents who died were younger compared to female residents (82.2 (SD 6.3) vs. 89.1 years (SD 6.8), p<.001). CONCLUSION: NH residents in the 14 facilities we studied were severely affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic, with a mortality of 47.5%. Male NH residents with COVID‐19 had worse outcomes than females. We did not find evidence for any protection against mortality by OAT, necessitating further research into strategies to mitigate poor outcome of COVID‐19 in vulnerable NH populations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.