The symptoms of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vary among patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical manifestation and disease duration in young versus elderly patients.
Methods
We retrospectively analyzed 187 patients (87 elderly and 100 young patients) with confirmed COVID-19. The clinical characteristics and chest computed tomography (CT) extent as defined by a score were compared between the two groups.
Results
The numbers of asymptomatic cases and severe cases were significantly higher in the elderly group (elderly group vs. young group; asymptomatic cases, 31 [35.6%] vs. 10 [10%], p < 0.0001; severe cases, 25 [28.7%] vs. 8 [8.0%], p = 0.0002). The proportion of asymptomatic patients and severe patients increased across the 10-year age groups. There was no significant difference in the total CT score and number of abnormal cases. A significant positive correlation between the disease duration and patient age was observed in asymptomatic patients (ρ = 0.4570, 95% CI 0.1198–0.6491, p = 0.0034).
Conclusions
Although the extent of lung involvement did not have a significant difference between the young and elderly patients, elderly patients were more likely to have severe clinical manifestations. Elderly patients were also more likely to be asymptomatic and a source of COVID-19 viral shedding.
