Abstract
Introduction: The literature draws a mitigated picture of the psychosocial effects of the lockdown in older adults. However, the studies conducted so far are mainly based on web surveys which may involve selection bias. The PACOVID survey relies on a population-based design and addresses the attitudes, psychological and social experiences of the oldest old regarding the pandemic and lockdown and their impact.Material and Methods: Cross-sectional phone survey involving 677 persons. Baseline report on attitudes, psychological, and social experiences of the oldest old, regarding the pandemic and lockdown measures.Results: The mean age was 87.53 (SD 5.19). About 46% were living alone during the lockdown. Concerning difficulties, “none” was the most frequent answer (35.6%). For questions addressing how often they had felt sad, depressed, or lonely (CESD-scale), the most frequent answers were “never/very rarely” (58.7, 76.6, 60.8%) and 27.1% had anxious symptomatology (STAI scale). Most (92.9%) felt socially supported. Engaging in leisure activities was the most frequent coping strategy, and for numerous participants the lockdown did not represent much of a change in terms of daily routine. A very good knowledge and awareness of COVID-19 and the safety measures was observed. Comparisons with measures collected before the pandemic showed low changes in subjective health and the CES-D questions.Discussion: With a methodological design limiting selection bias, our results claim for a weakened psychosocial impact even though the participants are concerned and aware of the pandemic issues. These results highlight the resources and resilience abilities of older persons including in advancing age.
Highlights
The literature draws a mitigated picture of the psychosocial effects of the lockdown in older adults
If the persons themselves could not respond to the questionnaire, a proxy, or a staff member for those living in nursing homes were invited to answer in their place, but only for specific parts of the survey which did not include subjective assessment such as difficulties during the lockdown, coping strategies, and self-perceived physical and mental health
The non-respondents were not different according to age, gender, ADL, and Instrumental ADL (IADL) disabilities, or diagnosis of dementia
Summary
The literature draws a mitigated picture of the psychosocial effects of the lockdown in older adults. The results show that older adults [60–80] compared with younger ones [40–59] presented lower rates of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder [11] Another on-line survey in a sample of 6,666 US adults assessed their perceived risks associated with the pandemic and completed a mental health assessment for anxiety and depression [12]. A cross-sectional study in the US and Canada involved 776 community-dwelling individuals who completed a daily diary tracing for positive and negative affect and stress symptoms during 7 days of the epidemic period [13] The results show those aged 60 and over compared with younger [18–39] and middle-aged adults [40–59] had less negative affect and more positive affect. As Vahia et al underline in their review, older adults as a group may be to a certain extent more resilient than the younger populations to the anxiety, depression, and stressrelated mental health disorders of the COVID-19 pandemic, or at least during its initial phase [14]
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