Changes in lifestyle, mood, and disease management among community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in China

Abstract

Background: Lives of older adults have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A telephone survey was conducted among the older adults aged 60 and above who lived in downtown Shanghai. We compared the lifestyle, mood, and disease management of older adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: One hundred and fifty-six older adults in Shanghai completed the survey. The proportions of older adults with adequate consumption of meat (49.4% vs. 53.1%, P=0.0339) and eggs (73.7% vs. 77.6%, P=0.0143) were significantly higher than before. Participants spent significantly more time on housework (median: 2.0, IQR:1.0-3.0 vs. median: 2.0, IQR:1.0-2.0 hours/day; P=0.0361) and leisure activities (median: 7.0, IQR: 5.0-8.6 vs. median: 6.0, IQR: 4.0-8.5 hours/day; P<0.0001) during the pandemic than before. More participants developed new hobbies (27.6% vs. 36.5%, P=0.0470) and learned new skills (5.1% vs. 19.9%, P<0.0001). However, the number of participants routinely self-testing blood glucose and/or blood pressure decreased from 77.6% before to 64.1% during the pandemic (P=0.0002). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the lifestyle, mood, and chronic diseases management among community-dwelling older adults. Supportive measures and interventions need to be tailored to older adults living in the community.

Travel behaviour changes and risk perception during COVID-19: A case study of Malaysia

“…Meanwhile, delivery services have become significantly necessary to get daily necessities. The result parallels several previous studies ( Ding et al, 2022 , Novianto et al, 2022 , Semple et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Some studies have found that outdoor leisure and recreational activities shifted to indoor activities. New hobbies such as calligraphy, planting flowers and baking had risen from 27.6% before to 36.5% during the pandemic for older adults in Shanghai, China ( Ding et al, 2022 ). In Canada, ( Fatmi et al, 2021 ) noted a decrease in outdoor travel activities by almost half, whereas indoor activities such as watching tv showed an increase, likely due to additional time spent at home.…”

Gender-Specific Effect of Couple-Based Intervention on Behavioral and Psychological Outcomes of Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes during the COVID-19 Partial Lockdown in Guangzhou, China

“…Prior studies on the nationwide lockdown in China also revealed the resilience of older adults against COVID-19. Their findings indicated that older patients with chronic diseases saved more time for self-care activities than social gatherings, such that they would spend more time on physical activities and better adhere to healthy meals [ 29 , 30 ]. Moreover, our findings may reflect the timely control measures implemented in Guangzhou [ 4 ].…”

Public interest in healthy lifestyle changes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: Google Trends analysis

“…COVID-19 is transmitted to individuals by droplet transmission, causing respiratory diseases ranging from inflammatory symptoms in the upper respiratory tract to fatal severe pneumonia (Hibino and Hayashida, 2022). After the World Health Organization declared the pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020), the measures taken to prevent transmission, namely curfew, working from home and social isolation, have significantly affected lifestyle (Ding et al, 2022). In addition, the closure of outpatient clinics, postponement of elective operations, and the fact that all units of health institutions were busy with COVID-19 caused patients and individuals with health problems to start using different tools such as books, television and the Internet to get information in order to protect their health (Sevgili and Baytaroglu, 2021).…”