Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic.
Robert Briggs, Cillian P McDowell, Céline De Looze and 2 others
PMID 34597531WHAT IT FOUND
During the pandemic, clinically significant depressive symptoms rose from 7.2% to 19.8% in Irish community-dwelling older adults, including 20.9% aged ≥70 years and 26.1% living alone.
Key findings
01Clinically significant depressive symptoms were 7.2% at wave 4, 7.2% at wave 5, and 19.8% during the COVID-19 Study.
02Mean CES-D scores increased by 2.20 points from wave 5 to the COVID-19 Study in unadjusted analysis and by 1.96 points in fully adjusted analysis.
03During the pandemic, clinically significant depressive symptoms were present in 20.9% of those aged ≥70 years and 26.1% of those living alone.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is observational, so it cannot show that pandemic restrictions caused the rise in depressive symptoms. The pandemic survey was a self-completion questionnaire, and respondents differed from nonrespondents: respondents were younger (68.6 vs 71.7 years), less likely to live alone (25% vs 27%), had tertiary education more often (45% vs 27%), smoked less often (8% vs 13%), and functional impairment was 39% vs 11%. The main trend analysis used participants present at all three time points (3490), while prevalence also used full wave samples (5832 at wave 4 and 5078 at wave 5), so the groups are not identical. Depressive symptoms were measured with the CES-D-8, a self-report symptom scale, not a diagnostic interview for depression. Only 196 of 3490 pandemic participants reported contracting COVID-19 or losing a friend or relative to COVID-19, so the study cannot separate the effects of illness or bereavement from pandemic restrictions.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the rise from 7.2% to 19.8% as proof that the pandemic caused depression. The study was an observational survey, used a self-reported symptom scale rather than diagnostic interview, and the pandemic respondents differed from nonrespondents.