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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Apr 2021
Adherence to Public Health Measures Mitigates the Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Older Adults: A Community-Based Study.
- Young J Juhn, Chung-Il Wi, Euijung Ryu, Priya Sampathkumar, Paul Y Takahashi, Joseph D Yao, Matthew J Binnicker, Traci L Natoli, Tamara K Evans, Katherine S King, Stephanie Volpe, Jean-Yves Pirçon, Silvia DamasoGalaxoSmithKline, Wavre, Belgium., and Robert J Pignolo.
- Department of Pediatric and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. Electronic address: juhn.young@mayo.edu.
- Mayo Clin. Proc. 2021 Apr 1; 96 (4): 912920912-920.
ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence and characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases during the reopening period in older adults, given that little is known about the prevalence of COVID-19 after the stay-at-home order was lifted in the United States, nor the actual effects of adherence to recommended public health measures (RPHM) on the risk of COVID-19.Patients And MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study nested in a parent prospective cohort study, which followed a population-based sample of 2325 adults 50 years and older residing in southeast Minnesota to assess the incidence of viral infections. Participants were instructed to self-collect both nasal and oropharyngeal swabs, which were tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction-based severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) assay between May 8, 2020, and June, 30, 2020. We assessed the prevalence of COVID-19 cases and characteristics of study subjects.ResultsA total of 1505 eligible subjects participated in the study whose mean age was 68 years, with 885 (59%) women, 32 (2%) racial/ethnic minorities, and 906 (60%) with high-risk conditions for influenza. The prevalence of other Coronaviridae (human coronavirus [HCoV]-229E, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-OC43) during the 2019 to 2020 flu season was 109 (7%), and none tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Almost all participants reported adhering to the RPHM (1,488 [99%] for social distancing, 1,438 [96%] for wearing mask in a public space, 1,476 [98%] for hand hygiene, and 1,441 (96%) for staying home mostly). Eighty-six percent of participants resided in a single-family home.ConclusionWe did not identify SARS-COV-2 infection in our study cohort. The combination of participants' behavior in following the RPHM and their living environment may considerably mitigate the risk of COVID-19.Copyright © 2020 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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