The impact of COVID‐19 outbreak on individuals with Alzheimer’s disease: Information released through online news

Abstract

BackgroundTotal confirmed cases for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) have been increased quickly worldwide after the emergence of COVID‐19 in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As of January 21, 2021, the total confirmed coronavirus cases are 97,736,758 worldwide with 25,124,602 in the United States (Worldometer). Prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic, the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) had been growing rapidly rendering them major threats to human health. COVID‐19 impacted health care for persons with neurodegenerative diseases. This study reviews current research findings and their online news coverage related to the impact of COVID‐19 outbreak on persons with Alzheimer’s Disease (PWAD) in the 10 months from April 2020 to January 2021 and available resources for caregivers and PWAD.MethodWe searched “COVID‐19 Alzheimer’s Disease” in Google News and obtained the URLs of all online news reports from April 1st 2020 to January 15, 2021 for data analysis. The news stories were: a. in English language, b. non‐duplicate, and c. applicable to Alzheimer’s disease occurrence or symptoms related to COVID‐19 positive cases. The content of the selected new stories is being analyzed for references to: 1. Upload date of news report; 2. Country in which the patients in the report are located; 3. Hospital or University names/studies; 4. Journal or source of the information that is being reported; 5. Alzheimer’s disease signs / symptoms; 6. Physical/ medical comorbidities; 7. Comorbidities / associated neuropsychiatric problems mentioned; 8. Alzheimer’s disease management issues; 9. Age of patients.ResultThe study is in progress. We are currently collecting news stories and are analyzing the data.ConclusionThis study will provide information how the COVID‐19 pandemic influences the course of AD and emerging self‐management strategies for PWAD.