Introduction:

Older people with COVID-19 show higher risk of complications and death. The clinical epidemiological situation of institutionalized Cuban older adults is unknown.

Objective:

To characterize hospitalized patients positive for COVID-19 at nursing homes from a clinical and epidemiological perspective.

Methods:

A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in 90 older adults with COVID-19, admitted to Salvador Allende Clinical Surgical Hospital, Havana, Cuba, from June to September 2021. Data were summarized and the relationship between variables of interest.

Results:

62.2% reported at least one symptom. In men, 42.9% had 4 or more comorbidities, and 54.8% suffered complications (p = 0.041). Fever and diarrhea were the most frequent reasons for admission in the deceased than in the living (p = 0.002). 44.3% (p < 0.001) of those who were discharged alive were treated with HeberFERON. 100% (p < 0.001) of the deceased showed a neutrophil-lymphocytic index higher than 4 and pulmonary interstitial infiltrate. On average, men stayed hospitalized two days longer than women (p = 0.003).

Conclusions:

All older adults with COVID-19 at nursing homes were contacts of positive cases. Fever was the main symptom, and the complications derived from COVID-19; predominantly in the male sex. Treatment and vaccination, according to the national action protocols for COVID-19, mediated, with high significance, in the state at discharge.

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