Marziliano A, Burns E, Chauhan L, et al. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2022;77:e124-e132.
Many COVID-19 patients present with atypical symptoms, such as delirium, smell and taste dysfunction, or cardiovascular features. Based on inpatient electronic health record data between March 1 and April 20 of 2020, this cohort study examined the frequency of atypical presentation of COVID-19 among older adults. Analyses suggest that atypical presentation was often characterized by functional decline or altered mental status.
Pulia M, Wolf I, Schulz L, et al. West J Emerg Med. 2020;21:1283-1286.
Antimicrobial stewardship is one strategy to improve antibiotic use to reduce hospital-acquired infections. In this editorial, the authors discuss negative effects of COVID-19 on antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic stewardship in the emergency department (ED) and approaches for optimizing ED stewardship during the pandemic.
Ochalek TA, Cumpston KL, Wills BK, et al. JAMA. 2020;324:1673-1674.
The opioid epidemic is an ongoing patient safety issue. This study examined the impact of the COVID-19 state emergency declaration on nonfatal, unintentional opioid-related overdoses. The authors identified a greater number of opioid overdoses occurring between March 1 to June 30, 2020 compared to March 1 to June 30, 2019, and that Black patients made up a larger proportion of the overdose visits compared with the previous year. These results highlight the potential impact of COVID-19 on racial/ethnic disparities.
Bender WR, Srinivas S, Coutifaris P, et al. Am J Perinatol. 2020;37:1271-1279.
This cohort explored the mental health impacts of a universal COVID-19 testing program on asymptomatic pregnant women and labor and delivery health care workers. Among multiparous women who tested negative, nearly 35% reported that COVID-19 led to additional fear or anxiety postpartum compared with previous deliveries. Labor and delivery health care workers reported that COVID-19 decreased job satisfaction and increased job-related anxiety.