Comparison of long-term healthcare use among older adults with disabilities following hospitalization for COVID-19, sepsis, or influenza: a population-based cohort study

Background — People with disabilities are at elevated risk of adverse short-term outcomes following hospitalization for acute infectious illness. No prior studies have compared long-term healthcare use among this high-risk population. We compared the healthcare use of adults with disabilities in the one year following hospitalization for COVID-19 vs. sepsis vs. influenza.

Methods — We performed a population-based cohort study using linked clinical and health administrative databases in Ontario, Canada of all adults with pre-existing disability (physical, sensory, or intellectual) hospitalized for COVID-19 (n = 22,551, median age 69 [IQR 57–79], 47.9% female) or sepsis (n = 100,669, median age 77 [IQR 66–85], 54.8% female) between January 25, 2020, and February 28, 2022, and for influenza (n = 11,216, median age 78 [IQR 67–86], 54% female) or sepsis (n = 49,326, median age 72 [IQR 62–82], 45.8% female) between January 1, 2014 and March 25, 2019. The exposure was hospitalization for laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 or influenza, or sepsis (not secondary to COVID-19 or influenza). Outcomes were ambulatory care visits, diagnostic testing, emergency department visits, hospitalization, palliative care visits and death within 1 year. Rates of these outcomes were compared across exposure groups using propensity-based overlap weighted Poisson and Cox proportional hazards models.

Findings — Among older adults with pre-existing disability, hospitalization for COVID-19 was associated with lower rates of ambulatory care visits (adjusted rate ratio (aRR) 0.88, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.87–0.90), diagnostic testing (aRR 0.86, 95% CI, 0.84–0.89), emergency department visits (aRR 0.91, 95% CI, 0.84–0.97), hospitalization (aRR 0.74, 95% CI, 0.71–0.77), palliative care visits (aRR 0.71, 95% CI, 0.62–0.81) and low hazards of death (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.71, 95% 0.68–0.75), compared to hospitalization for sepsis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates of healthcare use among those hospitalized for COVID-19 varied compared to those hospitalized for influenza or sepsis prior to the pandemic.

Interpretation — This study of older adults with pre-existing disabilities hospitalized for acute infectious illness found that COVID-19 was not associated with higher rates of healthcare use or mortality over the one year following hospital discharge compared to those hospitalized for sepsis. However, hospitalization for COVID-19 was associated with higher rates of ambulatory care use and mortality when compared to influenza. As COVID-19 enters an endemic phase, the associated long-term health resource use and risks in the contemporary era are reassuringly similar to sepsis and influenza, even among people with pre-existing disabilities.