Two Years of COVID-19: Understanding Impact and Implications for the Mental Health of Older Adults

Cray, Hailey V.; Vahia, Ipsit V.

doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2022.02.005

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our findings were at odds with reports from many Western countries, where older adults, compared to their younger counterparts, were largely thought to have better mental health resilience since the announcement of the pandemic ( Cray and Vahia, 2022 ; Vahia et al, 2020 ; Barber and Kim, 2021 ; Losada-Baltar et al, 2021 ; Palgi et al, 2020 ). Researchers hypothesized that this may have been associated with better financial stability ( Hadjistavropoulos and Asmundson, 2022 ; Vahia et al, 2020 ) and/or better abilities to regulate emotions ( Charles, 2010 ), compared with younger people.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

The increase in suicide risk in older adults in Taiwan during the COVID-19 outbreak

Yang¹,

Yip²

2023

Journal of Affective Disorders

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

The increase in suicide risk in older adults in Taiwan during the COVID-19 outbreak

Yang¹,

Yip²

2023

Journal of Affective Disorders

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…While our findings relate to engagement in hazardous drinking rather than changes in drinking over time, they are more consistent with those of the latter study. As such, they provide additional support to other findings about the resiliency of this population during the pandemic 15,16 . The models we estimated did control for survey wave, so it is also possible that the COVID‐19‐related factors under study are not associated with hazardous drinking independent of the impact of the initial lock‐down period.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…As such, they provide additional support to other findings about the resiliency of this population during the pandemic. 15,16 The models we estimated did control for survey wave, so it is also possible that the COVID-19-related factors under study are not associated with hazardous drinking independent of the impact of the initial lock-down period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Older adults experienced significant psychological stressors throughout this time given their higher risk of severe illness 9 ; they were more likely to perceive the disease as a major threat to health, 10 to have lost partners and peers, 11 and to have engaged in social distancing than younger adults. [12][13][14] While work suggests that older adults have been more resilient in terms of mental health than their younger counterparts, 15,16 older adults have still experienced declines in mental health from prepandemic levels and approximately one in five older adults have reported experiencing feelings of loneliness as a result of the pandemic. 17,18 Yet, evidence on alcohol use by US older adults during the pandemic is limited, particularly in terms of longer-term effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Hazardous drinking by older adults with chronic conditions during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence from a Chicago‐based cohort

Phillips

Carnethon

Bonham

et al. 2023

J American Geriatrics Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundIt is unclear how older adults with chronic conditions, who have greater risk of alcohol‐related adverse outcomes, used alcohol throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic. We assess changes in hazardous drinking prevalence May 2020–December 2021 and factors associated with hazardous drinking.MethodsData are from structured phone interviews of older adults (age 60+) with chronic conditions (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, pulmonary disease, heart disease) in a Chicago‐based longitudinal cohort (Chicago COVID‐19 Comorbidities survey, Waves 3–7, n = 247). We tested differences in the prevalence of hazardous drinking (defined as AUDIT‐C score of 3+ for women and 4+ for men) across waves for the full sample, by demographic group (sex, race, and ethnicity), and by chronic condition burden (<3 conditions, 3+ conditions). Generalized estimating equations investigated associations of hazardous drinking with sociodemographic and pandemic coping‐related factors (stress, loneliness, outside contacts, depression, anxiety).ResultsParticipants were 66.8% female; 27.9% non‐Hispanic Black, 14.2% Hispanic, 4.9% other race. Hazardous drinking was reported by 44.9% of participants in May 2020, but declined to 23.1% by July–August 2020 and continued to slowly decline to 19.4% by September–December 2021. Differences from May 2020 were significant at the 0.05 level. Subgroups followed similar trajectories. Hazardous drinking prevalence was initially higher but declined more among men than women, consistently higher among non‐Hispanic White respondents than among Hispanic and non‐Hispanic Black respondents, and declined more rapidly among adults with 3+ chronic conditions. In adjusted models, race and ethnicity were associated with lower prevalence of hazardous drinking (non‐Hispanic Black: adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.33, 0.74; other race: aPR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.09, 0.81, compared with non‐Hispanic White). No coping‐related factors were significantly associated with hazardous drinking.ConclusionAmong a cohort of older adults with chronic conditions, almost half engaged in hazardous drinking in early summer of the COVID‐19 pandemic. While prevalence fell, these rates reinforce the need for alcohol screening and intervention in clinical settings among this population.

show abstract

Covid-19

Dix¹,

Roy²

2022

Psychiatric Clinics of North America

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two Years of COVID-19: Understanding Impact and Implications for the Mental Health of Older Adults

Cited by 3 publications

References 21 publications

The increase in suicide risk in older adults in Taiwan during the COVID-19 outbreak

The increase in suicide risk in older adults in Taiwan during the COVID-19 outbreak

Hazardous drinking by older adults with chronic conditions during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence from a Chicago‐based cohort

Covid-19

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About