Background: A novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2]) occurred in China in December 2019 and has spread globally. In this study, we aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized older adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Turkey. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of hospitalized patients aged ≥ 60 years with confirmed COVID-19 from March 11, 2020 to May 27, 2020 using nationwide health database. Results: In this nationwide cohort, a total of 16,942 hospitalized older adults with COVID-19 were enrolled, of whom 8,635 (51%) were women. Mean age was 71.2 ± 8.5 years, ranging from 60 to 113 years. Mortality rate before and after curfew was statistically different (32.2% vs. 17.9%; p < .001, respectively). Through multivariate analysis of the causes of death in older patients, we found that male gender, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, dementia, were all significantly associated with mortality in entire cohort. In addition to abovementioned risk factors, in patients aged between 60 and 79 years, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and cancer and in patients 80 years of age and older malnutrition were also associated with increased risk of mortality. Conclusions: In addition to the results of previous studies with smaller sample size, our results confirmed the age-related relationship between specific comorbidities and COVID-19–related mortality.

Malnutrition affects up to 50% of hospitalized patients at admission and is linked to significant adverse outcomes, impacting both patient health and healthcare resources. The aim of this nationwide study was to report the prevalence of malnutrition risk among hospitalized adult patients by Turkish Society of Clinical Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition (KEPAN). Thirty-three hospitals with nutrition support teams in 29 referral hospitals in 21 different cities were included. The data was collected by web-based NRS-2002 integrated to hospital information system of all participating centers. A total of 191,028 patients (54.6% men) were included. The prevalence of malnutrition risk was found to be 11.6% among all patients and 20.4% in patients older than 65 years (22.8% in 71–80 years and 30.2% in > 80 years). Among clinics, this prevalence was highest in the intensive care units (31.9%), followed by hematology and oncology clinics (25.5%), and neurology clinics (18.7%). There is a considerable risk of malnutrition in hospitalized patients and this risk is more prominent in older patients and in intensive care and oncology clinics.

Background The Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ) is a brief instrument designed to evaluate cognitive impairment in older adults. This study evaluates the validity and reliability of the Turkish SPMSQ and determines optimal cut-off values. Methods Patients aged 65 years and older were enrolled consecutively. Following the translation and cultural adaptation procedure, the Turkish versions of the SPMSQ and Standardised Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE) were administered to evaluate cognitive status. The SPMSQ’s diagnostic accuracy was evaluated by calculating the area under ROC curve (AUC). Results A total of 197 patients were included, comprising 48 with dementia and 149 controls. In 67% of the study population, total education time was under five years. ROC analysis of the overall study population identified an optimal cut-off point of the SPMSQ for differentiating dementia at ≥ 4 errors, yielding a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 90.6% (AUC: 0.949). The cut-off point was determined as ≥ 4 errors for patients with ≤ 5 years of education time (sensitivity: 87.2%, specificity: 84.9%, AUC: 0.933) and ≥ 3 errors for patients with > 5 years of education time (sensitivity: 100%, specificity: 98.2%, AUC: 0.997). The SPMSQ and SMMSE scores showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.661, p < 0.001). The cut-off point for the SMMSE was ≤ 25, demonstrating 83.3% sensitivity and 97.3% specificity, with an AUC of 0.947. This was not statistically different from the SPMSQ AUC (p = 0.93). Conclusion The SPMSQ is a reliable instrument for dementia screening in older adults and is not inferior to SMMSE. These findings suggest that the SPMSQ can be effectively utilized in primary care and geriatric clinics as a quick and reliable cognitive screening tool, especially in populations with varying education levels.