Structural Characteristics of Long-Term Care Facilities for Elderly and COVID-19 Outcomes: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

In many countries, elder citizens residing in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) were disproportionately affected by the SARS-Cov-2. However, The risk of contracting the virus, the incidence of infection, and mortality rates varied greatly between different facilities. This variation has motivated a growing literature examining the association between structural characteristics of LTCFs and COVID-19 outcomes. This paper present the findings of a rapid review of empirical studies investigating the link between ownership status, facility size and staffing, on the one hand, characteristics with COVID-19 outcomes among LTCFs, on the other. The reviewed literature is characterised by the lack of consensus. The review reveals a lack of consensus in the literature. Variation in COVID-19 outcomes is not systematically linked to ownership type, and factors related to facility size and staffing characteristics also show inconsistent associations with the presence of infection cases, infection rates, and mortality