The Effect of the COVID‐19 Pandemic on Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mood

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundSubjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) is being recognized as one of the earliest clinical signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, SCD is susceptible to a range of task factors (e.g., how SCD is measured) and person factors (e.g., mood). Currently, there is rising concern about the COVID‐19 pandemic’s impact on memory and mood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the pandemic on various types of SCD ratings and aspects of mood in older adults.Methods83 cognitively healthy older adults completed three counterbalanced 20‐item SCD questionnaires to examine SCD in general, SCD compared to 5 years ago (retrospective), and SCD compared to same‐aged peers (age‐anchored). Individuals also completed mood questionnaires that assess depression, anxiety, and apathy. After completing each SCD and mood questionnaire, participants rated the extent to which the pandemic affected their ratings using a Likert scale (range: much worse [‐2], a little worse [‐1] not changed [0], a little better [1], much better [2]). One‐sample and paired‐sample t‐tests examined pandemic effect ratings for each measure. Bivariate correlations examined pandemic effect ratings in relation to age and lifestyle features (sleep, loneliness, exercise, and social contact).ResultsOne sample t‐tests revealed that age‐anchored SCD ratings were not affected by the pandemic; that is, pandemic effect ratings (mean = ‐0.11) were not significantly different from zero (p = .118). In contrast, retrospective SCD (mean = ‐0.25, p = .001) and general SCD ratings (mean = ‐0.26, p<.001) were negatively affected. Additionally, depression (p = .007), anxiety (p = .002), and apathy (p = .05) ratings were all negatively affected by the pandemic. Pandemic effect ratings for depression (r = .45; p< .001) and general SCD (r = .26; p = .018) were associated with the current quality of sleep as compared to pre‐pandemic sleep quality.ConclusionAge‐anchored SCD ratings are relatively resilient to the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic. These results add to the growing evidence for using age‐anchored SCD ratings in studies of cognitive aging. Overall, these findings point to sleep quality as a potential mechanism by which older adults’ subjective cognitive experiences and mood may have been, and continue to be, affected by the pandemic.