Nutrients, Vol. 17, Pages 249: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Interrelationships Among Mental Health, Nutritional Status and Lifestyle Factors of Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Pre- and Post-Covid Periods
Nutrients doi: 10.3390/nu17020249
Authors:
Antonios Dakanalis
Evmorfia Psara
Eleni Pavlidou
Sousana K. Papadopoulou
Georgios Antasouras
Gavriela Voulgaridou
Rena I. Kosti
Theophanis Vorvolakos
Maria Mentzelou
Apostolia Ntovoli
Maria Chrysafi
Odysseas Androutsos
Constantina Jacovides
Aspasia Serdari
Constantinos Giaginis
Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to detrimental effects on diverse aspects of the mental and physical health of the general population worldwide. The elderly are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection compared to younger age groups. In this aspect, the purpose of the current survey is to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the interrelationships among the sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics, depressive behavior, quality of life, cognition status, physical activity and nutritional status of older adults. Methods: The present study constitutes a comparative, cross-sectional study of 4162 older adults (mean age ± standard deviation: 72.13 ± 8.1 years and 75.22 ± 8.2 years in the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods, respectively, and a male/female ratio of almost 1:1). We used validated questionnaires to assess depression, cognition function, quality of life, physical activity and nutritional status of the elderly in the pre-Covid and post-Covid periods. Relevant questionnaires were also used for collecting sociodemographic data, while anthropometric data were measured using standard protocols. Results: The present study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced, in an independent manner, residence location, smoking status, overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity, depressive behavior, quality of life, cognition behavior, physical activity levels and nutritional status of the elderly. The COVID-19 pandemic was also related to employment and living status as well as family economic status. Nevertheless, the above three relationships were insignificant in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic exerted deleterious effects on several aspects of the mental and physical health of the elderly, which appeared to strongly persist in the post-Covid period. Future prospective population-based and well-organized surveys should be conducted to establish whether there is a causality long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on diverse aspects of the mental and physical health of the elderly.
Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to detrimental effects on diverse aspects of the mental and physical health of the general population worldwide. The elderly are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection compared to younger age groups. In this aspect, the purpose of the current survey is to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the interrelationships among the sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics, depressive behavior, quality of life, cognition status, physical activity and nutritional status of older adults. Methods: The present study constitutes a comparative, cross-sectional study of 4162 older adults (mean age ± standard deviation: 72.13 ± 8.1 years and 75.22 ± 8.2 years in the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods, respectively, and a male/female ratio of almost 1:1). We used validated questionnaires to assess depression, cognition function, quality of life, physical activity and nutritional status of the elderly in the pre-Covid and post-Covid periods. Relevant questionnaires were also used for collecting sociodemographic data, while anthropometric data were measured using standard protocols. Results: The present study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced, in an independent manner, residence location, smoking status, overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity, depressive behavior, quality of life, cognition behavior, physical activity levels and nutritional status of the elderly. The COVID-19 pandemic was also related to employment and living status as well as family economic status. Nevertheless, the above three relationships were insignificant in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic exerted deleterious effects on several aspects of the mental and physical health of the elderly, which appeared to strongly persist in the post-Covid period. Future prospective population-based and well-organized surveys should be conducted to establish whether there is a causality long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on diverse aspects of the mental and physical health of the elderly. Read More