Outcome of Hospitalized Parkinson's Disease Patients with and without COVID‐19

BACKGROUND: The Parkinson's disease (PD) patient population, with an already reduced life expectancy, is rendered particularly vulnerable by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). OBJECTIVES: We determined the risk factors that increase the risk of death in patients with Parkinson's disease who are infected by SARS‐CoV‐2. METHODS: Patients with a diagnosis of PD admitted to Montefiore Hospital (Bronx, New York) and tested for SARS‐CoV‐2 were identified. Retrospective review of electronic medical records confirmed the diagnosis; patients were classified by severity of PD. PD severity, demographic, socioeconomic factors, and co‐morbidities were correlated with mortality rates in patients with SARS‐CoV‐2. RESULTS: We identified 162 patients meeting criteria; chart review confirmed a diagnosis of PD in 70 patients. Of the 70 patients, 53 were positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 and 17 were negative. PD patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection had a higher mortality rate (35.8%) compared to PD patients without the infection (5.9%, P = 0.028). PD patients older than 70 years of age, those with advanced Parkinson's disease, those with reductions in their medications, and non‐Hispanics (largely comprised of Black/African‐ Americans) had a statistically significant higher mortality rate, if infected. CONCLUSIONS: PD did not increase mortality rates from SARS‐CoV‐2 infection when age was controlled. However, certain unalterable factors (advanced disease and age greater than 70 years) and alterable ones (reductions in PD medications) placed PD patients at increased risk for mortality. Also several socioeconomic factors contributed to mortality, for example, non‐Hispanic patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection fared worse, likely driven by poorer outcomes in the Black/African‐American cohort.