Psychological Burden among Community-dwelling Older Adults with and without a History of a Recent Covid-19 Infection. Issue 1 (1st January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Naharci, Mehmet Ilkin; Veizi, Betul Gulsum Yavuz; Katipoglu, Bilal; Tasci, Ilker
• Is Part Of: Clinical gerontologist. Volume 45:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 120
• Page End: 129
• Publication Date: 2022-01-01
• Subjects: Covid-19 -- anxiety -- depression -- post traumatic stress disorder -- aged; Geriatrics -- Periodicals; Geriatric psychiatry -- Periodicals; Older people -- Mental health services -- Periodicals; Older people -- Psychology -- Periodicals; 618.97689
• DOI: 10.1080/07317115.2021.1928358
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0731-7115

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Objectives: The outbreak of Covid-19's psychological burden to recovered vs. non-infected older individuals has not been compared yet. We aimed to perform a comparative analysis of psychological symptoms in community-dwelling older adults with and without a history of a Covid-19 infection. Methods: In this study, we utilized a geriatric care unit's outpatient registry to prospectively enroll older adults with and without a history of Covid-19. An interviewer administered generalized anxiety disorder-2 (GAD-2), patient health questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), six-item cognitive impairment (6-CIT), and post-traumatic stress disorder-5 (PTSD-5) tests over the phone. Correlation and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations. Results: The study included 120 older subjects, 46 (38.3%) reported past Covid-19 infection. Anxiety and depression were both significantly more prevalent among subjects without a history of Covid-19. Having no history of Covid-19, female gender, and psychoactive medication use showed independent associations with the risk of depression symptoms among all subjects, and female gender was additionally associated with anxiety symptoms. Conclusions: This study showed that the risk of depression symptoms was higher in a sample of older adults who were not infected with Covid-19 compared to those recovering from the disease. Clinical implications: The impact of "fear of transmission" on the mental health of the elderly may be a significant issue to deal with. Older women are more prone to mental health risks by Covid-19.