The region has reviewed all cases where an elderly person has died at home or in special accommodation with confirmed covid-19. In 15 percent of the cases examined, the coronavirus was judged to be the direct cause of death, but for 70 percent, the virus was more of a contributing cause than direct. For 15 percent, the cause of death was other diseases, reports Läkartidningen and Vårdfokus.
"Sad for relatives""In some cases, the covid-19 diagnosis may have contributed to the death occurring earlier than it otherwise would have done. The review shows that very many of those who died with covid-19 outside the hospital had expected short survival. But every death is of course sad for the relatives ", says Stefan Franzén, medical director in the Östergötland Region, in a press release.
Records from 122 people have been reviewed, which is 51 percent of the 240 people who had died in the county when the review was done. Among the 122 deaths included in the report, 111 had extensive comorbidity and 11 had moderate comorbidity. Half were 88 years or older. The diseases that were the most common contributing causes of death were heart disease, lung disease or dementia.