Relation Between Mood Disorders and Covid-19 in Older Adults During the Pandemic

Abstract

Background: Literature data emphasize that the recent spread of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered several mental health issues such as depression and anxiety disorders. Fear of the illness and social distancing have shown to be risk factors for mood disorders. It is thus necessary to study the relation between mood disorders in older adults during the pandemic. Objective: Analyze the relation between mood disorders and COVID-19 in older adults within the pandemic framework. Methods: Cross-sectional study with the application of the following tools: Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15) and Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI). Results: 428 older adults with an average age of 67.54±5.65 years were evaluated. Most of them were married females with an education level of 14.72±3.54 years and only 10% of them had fallen ill to COVID-19. 71% of them reported changes in mood and anxiety levels due to the pandemic. There was also a significant statistical difference between this group and the other 29% regarding GDS15 and GAI scores (p <0.001). Meaningful correlations were found between GDS and GAI (rho = 0.52 / ρ = 0,001) in which the larger the depressive symptomatology, the higher the anxiety level was. Conclusion: Results suggest that there have been associations between depression and anxiety symptoms in older adults during the pandemic period. Such findings are important for the implementation of social and health public policies.