Older adults’ daily activities during lockdown in France, spring 2020: a cross sectional survey

Abstract

Abstract Background The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic prompted many countries to go into lockdown for varying periods. The French population was limited to 1km around their house, with the need to have a travel declaration when going out. According to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2020), “populations around the world have been required to adjust and make compensations to usual routines in order to participate in ongoing or newly acquired activities that are necessary for daily life.” AIMS. In this context, we aimed to describe changes in daily activities, social contacts, and mental health and wellbeing of older adults (i.e. aged 60 or more) living in France. Methods We performed an online cross-sectional survey, based on the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) for restriction of and satisfaction with daily activities, and the Cantril's ladder for mental health and wellbeing. RESULTS. Of the 512 respondents, 9% did not feel restricted at all in their daily activities, and 13% reported no change. About one third (31%) reported to have less diverse activities than usual but to be satisfied with it. Regarding social contacts, 72% of the respondents reported to have a lot more contacts than usual with their relatives. Concerning the type of activities, 2477 restricted activities could be identified, but also 2190 that were done more often during the lockdown. Most restricted ones concerned leisure (83%), especially active leisure, the most mentioned being walking. The more engaged activities also concerned leisure (73%), especially quiet recreation, the most mentioned reading. The median value of Cantril's ladder was 5 [4;7]. Conclusions Lockdown measures led to some activity restrictions for older adults, but also offered opportunities for new engagements. Remarkably was the increase in social contacts with relatives, probably related to the use of new technologies.