The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts pointed to potential adverse mental health effects for older adults. By contrast, many studies in young to middle-aged adults found older age to be associated with reduced mental burden. However, a systematic review on older adults is missing....

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Publicado en:Age & Ageing Vol. 52; no. 9; pp. 1 - 13
Autores principales: Schäfer, Sarah K, Lindner, Saskia, Kunzler, Angela M, Meerpohl, Jörg J, Lieb, Klaus
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Sep2023
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Sep2023
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      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
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        10.1093/ageing/afad170
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        atl: The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
      aug:
        au:
          Schäfer, Sarah K
          Lindner, Saskia
          Kunzler, Angela M
          Meerpohl, Jörg J
          Lieb, Klaus
        affil:
          Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research , Mainz , Germany
          Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy and Diagnostics, Technische Universität Braunschweig , Braunschweig , Germany
          Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz , Mainz , Germany
          Institute for Evidence in Medicine, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg , Freiburg , Germany
      su:
        Sex distribution
        COVID-19 pandemic
        Psychological distress
        Old age
        Online information services
        Psychology information storage & retrieval systems
        Meta-analysis
        Confidence intervals
        Medical information storage & retrieval systems
        Systematic reviews
        Descriptive statistics
        MEDLINE
      sug:
        subj:
          Sex distribution
          COVID-19 pandemic
          Psychological distress
          Old age
          Online information services
          Psychology information storage & retrieval systems
          Meta-analysis
          Confidence intervals
          Medical information storage & retrieval systems
          Systematic reviews
          Descriptive statistics
          MEDLINE
      keyword:
        COVID-19
        mental health
        meta-analysis
        old age
        older adults
        older people
        systematic review
        COVID-19
        mental health
        meta-analysis
        old age
        older adults
        older people
        systematic review
      ab: Background Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts pointed to potential adverse mental health effects for older adults. By contrast, many studies in young to middle-aged adults found older age to be associated with reduced mental burden. However, a systematic review on older adults is missing. Objectives To comprehensively assess the pandemic's mental health impact on older adults. Data sources We searched nine databases from December 2019 to April 2022. Study selection We included longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional studies assessing pre- and/or peri-pandemic mental distress and/or positive mental health indicators (e.g. wellbeing) on at least two occasions. Data synthesis We identified 108 studies comprising 102,136 participants (≥60 years). After removal of outliers, there was a small increase in mental distress from pre-to-peri-pandemic assessments, standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.01, 0.18]. Furthermore, a small peri-pandemic decrease in anxiety symptoms was observed, whereas other symptoms remained unchanged. For positive mental health indicators, wellbeing and quality of life showed an initial decrease, whereas overall positive mental health increased during the pandemic, SMD = 0.08, 95% CI [0.01, 0.15]. Being female was related to larger peri-pandemic increases in mental distress. Conclusions Based on many studies, this review demonstrated small decreases in mental health during early stages of the pandemic in older adults, with evidence for later recovery. These findings are similar to those for younger adults and correct earlier claims that older adults are at particular risk for negative mental health consequences. The results ask for further research into resilience and adaptation processes in older adults.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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