Experts argue more must be done to protect society’s vulnerable populations after a study revealed that individuals with dementia – in particular Black Americans – are at an increased risk of getting COVID-19.

Researchers from Case Western University studied electronic health record data from 61.9 million American adults and found the risk for contracting COVID-19 is twice as high for people with dementia than for those without it, according to the report published Tuesday in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.

The findings also suggested patients were more likely to be hospitalized or die of COVID-19 than people without the cognitive disease.

The overall hospitalization risk during the study was about 25%, but it more than doubled for COVID-19 patients who had dementia – about 59%. The overall mortality risk was about 5%, but among those who also had dementia, about 20% died.

“Patients with dementia are more vulnerable both to acquire COVID infection and also do much worse with it when they do have it,” said Pamela Davis, professor of general medical sciences at Case Western University, who contributed to the study.

The study also highlighted disparities within this vulnerable population, even after controlling for other risk factors. Among those with dementia, Black patients had nearly three times the risk of being infected with COVID-19 as white patients did.
Seventy-three percent of Black patients with dementia were hospitalized during the study compared with about 53% of white patients. During the study, 23% of Black patients died compared with 19% of white patients.

More research is needed to fully understand why these disparities exist, said Brittany Baker, undergraduate program coordinator and clinical assistant professor at North Carolina Central University. But she speculates that Black dementia patients may be more at risk of contracting COVID-19 from their adult caregivers.