The impact of COVID-19 on older adults: Results from an annual survey.
Rachel Ungar, Lizi Wu, Stephanie MacLeod and 5 others
PMID 35150949WHAT IT FOUND
In 2020, 26% of surveyed older adults reported severe loneliness and 30% moderate loneliness, while resilience, purpose, and stress stayed stable.
Many used technology to stay connected, but comfort fell with age.
Key findings
01Severe loneliness was reported by 26% of respondents in 2020, and moderate loneliness by 30%.
02The authors reported that resilience, purpose, and perceived stress trends remained steady in 2020 compared with previous years.
03In 2020, 47% reported increased technology use in the prior three months, and 75.6% used technology to see or speak with friends or relatives.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
All outcomes were self-reported, so they depend on how older adults interpreted and answered the questions. The sample was limited to AARP Medicare Supplement insureds, so it may not represent other older adults. Only 27% of the 2020 survey recipients responded, and non-response bias was possible. The survey was conducted during the first six months of the pandemic, so it may not capture later changes. The social network question was changed in 2020 to include phone contact, which may make comparisons with 2018 and 2019 less clean. The text says optimism trends remained steady, while Table 2 reports an optimism p-value of 0.0473. The study is descriptive and cannot show that COVID-19 caused loneliness or that technology use reduced it.
Declared interests
The work was funded by the Supplemental Health Insurance Program. Several authors were employed by UnitedHealth Group and held UnitedHealth Group stock; one author was employed by AARP Services. The paper says investigators retained independence and authors declared no conflicts, but it also says no financial support, which conflicts with the funding declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that COVID-19 caused loneliness or that technology use reduced loneliness. This was a self-reported survey of one insured older adult population, and the social network question changed in 2020, so it cannot prove cause.