The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on wellbeing and cognitive functioning of older adults

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Abstract

COVID-19 took a heavy toll on older adults. In Belgium, by the end of August, 93% of deaths due to COVID-19 were aged 65 or older. Similar trends were observed in other countries. As a consequence, older adults were identified as a group at risk, and strict governmental restrictions were imposed on them. This has caused concerns about their mental health. Using an online survey, this study established the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults aged 65 years or older, and which factors moderate this impact. Participants reported a significant decrease in activity level, sleep quality and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression was strongly related to reported declines in activity level, sleep quality, wellbeing and cognitive functioning. Our study shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the mental health of older adults. This implies that this group at risk requires attention of governments and healthcare.

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The brief resilience scale: assessing the ability to bounce back.

Bruce W. Smith, Jeanne Dalen, Kathryn J Wiggins … (2008)

While resilience has been defined as resistance to illness, adaptation, and thriving, the ability to bounce back or recover from stress is closest to its original meaning. Previous resilience measures assess resources that may promote resilience rather than recovery, resistance, adaptation, or thriving. To test a new brief resilience scale. The brief resilience scale (BRS) was created to assess the ability to bounce back or recover from stress. Its psychometric characteristics were examined in four samples, including two student samples and samples with cardiac and chronic pain patients. The BRS was reliable and measured as a unitary construct. It was predictably related to personal characteristics, social relations, coping, and health in all samples. It was negatively related to anxiety, depression, negative affect, and physical symptoms when other resilience measures and optimism, social support, and Type D personality (high negative affect and high social inhibition) were controlled. There were large differences in BRS scores between cardiac patients with and without Type D and women with and without fibromyalgia. The BRS is a reliable means of assessing resilience as the ability to bounce back or recover from stress and may provide unique and important information about people coping with health-related stressors.

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COVID-19 and the consequences of isolating the elderly

Richard A. Armitage, Laura Nellums (2020)

As countries are affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the elderly population will soon be told to self-isolate for “a very long time” in the UK, and elsewhere. 1 This attempt to shield the over-70s, and thereby protect over-burdened health systems, comes as worldwide countries enforce lockdowns, curfews, and social isolation to mitigate the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, it is well known that social isolation among older adults is a “serious public health concern” because of their heightened risk of cardiovascular, autoimmune, neurocognitive, and mental health problems. 2 Santini and colleagues 3 recently demonstrated that social disconnection puts older adults at greater risk of depression and anxiety. If health ministers instruct elderly people to remain home, have groceries and vital medications delivered, and avoid social contact with family and friends, urgent action is needed to mitigate the mental and physical health consequences. Self-isolation will disproportionately affect elderly individuals whose only social contact is out of the home, such as at daycare venues, community centres, and places of worship. Those who do not have close family or friends, and rely on the support of voluntary services or social care, could be placed at additional risk, along with those who are already lonely, isolated, or secluded. Online technologies could be harnessed to provide social support networks and a sense of belonging, 4 although there might be disparities in access to or literacy in digital resources. Interventions could simply involve more frequent telephone contact with significant others, close family and friends, voluntary organisations, or health-care professionals, or community outreach projects providing peer support throughout the enforced isolation. Beyond this, cognitive behavioural therapies could be delivered online to decrease loneliness and improve mental wellbeing. 5 Isolating the elderly might reduce transmission, which is most important to delay the peak in cases, and minimise the spread to high-risk groups. However, adherence to isolation strategies is likely to decrease over time. Such mitigation measures must be effectively timed to prevent transmission, but avoid increasing the morbidity of COVID-19 associated with affective disorders. This effect will be felt greatest in more disadvantaged and marginalised populations, which should be urgently targeted for the implementation of preventive strategies.

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Depression, Anxiety and Stress during COVID-19: Associations with Changes in Physical Activity, Sleep, Tobacco and Alcohol Use in Australian Adults

Robert Stanton, Quyen G To, Saman Khalesi … (2020)

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has enforced dramatic changes to daily living including economic and health impacts. Evidence for the impact of these changes on our physical and mental health and health behaviors is limited. We examined the associations between psychological distress and changes in selected health behaviors since the onset of COVID-19 in Australia. An online survey was distributed in April 2020 and included measures of depression, anxiety, stress, physical activity, sleep, alcohol intake and cigarette smoking. The survey was completed by 1491 adults (mean age 50.5 ± 14.9 years, 67% female). Negative change was reported for physical activity (48.9%), sleep (40.7%), alcohol (26.6%) and smoking (6.9%) since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Significantly higher scores in one or more psychological distress states were found for females, and those not in a relationship, in the lowest income category, aged 18–45 years, or with a chronic illness. Negative changes in physical activity, sleep, smoking and alcohol intake were associated with higher depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. Health-promotion strategies directed at adopting or maintaining positive health-related behaviors should be utilized to address increases in psychological distress during the pandemic. Ongoing evaluation of the impact of lifestyle changes associated with the pandemic is needed.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Sarah De Pue: sarah.depue@kuleuven.be

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Sci Rep

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Sci Rep

Title: Scientific Reports

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 2045-2322

Publication date (Electronic): 25 February 2021

Publication date PMC-release: 25 February 2021

Publication date Collection: 2021

Volume: 11

Electronic Location Identifier: 4636

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.5596.f, ISNI 0000 0001 0668 7884, Brain & Cognition, , KU Leuven, ; Leuven, Belgium

[2 ]GRID grid.8767.e, ISNI 0000 0001 2290 8069, Personality and Psychopathology, , Vrije Universiteit Brussel, ; Brussels, Belgium

[3 ]Psychiatric Hospital, Alexianen Zorggroep Tienen, Tienen, Belgium

[4 ]Department of Head and Skin, Ghent University, University Hospital Ghent (UZ Ghent), Ghent, Belgium

[5 ]GRID grid.5342.0, ISNI 0000 0001 2069 7798, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, , Ghent University, ; Ghent, Belgium

Article

Publisher ID: 84127

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84127-7

PMC ID: 7907111

PubMed ID: 33633303

SO-VID: 26e62fd4-6eb0-4434-a4c9-aa4f05c38f04

License:

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

Date received : 7 September 2020

Date accepted : 10 February 2021

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Uncategorized

Keywords: geriatrics,quality of life,ageing,human behaviour

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ScienceOpen disciplines: Uncategorized

Keywords: geriatrics, quality of life, ageing, human behaviour

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on wellbeing and cognitive functioning of older adults

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 45

The brief resilience scale: assessing the ability to bounce back.

COVID-19 and the consequences of isolating the elderly

Depression, Anxiety and Stress during COVID-19: Associations with Changes in Physical Activity, Sleep, Tobacco and Alcohol Use in Australian Adults

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