UMass Medical School study finds delirium a coronavirus symptom for elderly

Photo | Courtesy | UMass Medical School Benjamin Helfand, a MD/PhD student at UMass Medical School

Write a Comment

A new study led by a UMass Medical School student has found delirium is a frequent symptom among older adults who test positive for coronavirus.

Benjamin Helfand, a MD/PhD student at the Worcester school and the co-first author of the study, said factors associated with delirium include patients being over age 75, living in a nursing home or assisted living, prior psychoactive medications use, vision or hearing impairment, stroke, and Parkinson disease.

“Older persons’ immune systems react differently than younger persons, so it’s important that we recognize that presenting symptoms may be different in this population," said Helfand, whose study was published in the Journal of American Medical Association's JAMA Network Open.

Delirium includes disorientation, confusion, hallucination or inattention. It was the sixth most common symptom found by researchers.

The study focused on more than 800 patients from seven emergency departments across the country that were hotspots in the early stages of the pandemic. Patients showing signs of delirium tended to have worse outcomes.

Dr. Maura Kennedy of Massachusetts General Hospital is the co-first author, and Dr. Tamara Fong and Dr. Sharon Inouye from Boston-based Hebrew SeniorLife are co-senior authors.