Vulnerability Management of the Elderly During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: At the end of December 2019, a new infectious disease was reported in Wuhan, China. It was a new type of coronavirus named COVID-19. The spread of COVID-19 created an emergency in the global health system and the elderly was identified as a vulnerable group to the disease. Materials and Methods: This is a systematic review conducted to manage the vulnerability of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, all articles published in this field from the beginning of March 2019 to the end of June 2021 have been extracted from the following databases: Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Irandoc, Magiran, MedLib, and SID. Results: High incidences of COVID-19 are exacerbated in the elderly with cognitive disorders, immunodeficiency, malnutrition, use of various medicines and social problems, anxiety, distance from the family, lack of healthcare, history of falls, multi-drug use due to old age during the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the elderly with underlying diseases, such as kidney failure, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, heart, and respiratory diseases. Conclusion: The prevalence of vulnerability in the elderly was high during the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be a significant risk factor for health. Suffering from several simultaneous diseases, the number of medicines used, the history of falls, underlying diseases, and living alone were some of the vital determinants of vulnerability and considering the adverse consequences of vulnerability, difficulty in designing and implementing appropriate interventions and self-care education for the elderly and their families to manage drug use, treating chronic diseases, and preventing falls, it seems necessary to observe health protocols and stay at home.

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