Cargando…
Physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the COVID-19 pandemic
BACKGROUND: Cocooning or shielding, i.e. staying at home and reducing face-to-face interaction with other people, was an important part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic for older people. However, concerns exist regarding the long-term adverse effects cocooning may have on their physical and...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Oxford University Press
2021
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7928635/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33471128 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcab015 |
_version_ | 1783659886871052288 |
---|---|
author | Bailey, L Ward, M DiCosimo, A Baunta, S Cunningham, C Romero-Ortuno, R Kenny, R A Purcell, R Lannon, R McCarroll, K Nee, R Robinson, D Lavan, A Briggs, R |
author_facet | Bailey, L Ward, M DiCosimo, A Baunta, S Cunningham, C Romero-Ortuno, R Kenny, R A Purcell, R Lannon, R McCarroll, K Nee, R Robinson, D Lavan, A Briggs, R |
author_sort | Bailey, L |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Cocooning or shielding, i.e. staying at home and reducing face-to-face interaction with other people, was an important part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic for older people. However, concerns exist regarding the long-term adverse effects cocooning may have on their physical and mental health. AIM: To examine health trajectories and healthcare utilization while cocooning in a cohort of community-dwelling people aged ≥70 years. DESIGN: Survey of 150 patients (55% female, mean age 80 years and mean Clinical Frailty Scale Score 4.8) attending ambulatory medical services in a large urban university hospital. METHODS: The survey covered four broad themes: access to healthcare services, mental health, physical health and attitudes to COVID-19 restrictions. Survey data were presented descriptively. RESULTS: Almost 40% (59/150) reported that their mental health was ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ while cocooning, while over 40% (63/150) reported a decline in their physical health. Almost 70% (104/150) reported exercising less frequently or not exercising at all. Over 57% (86/150) of participants reported loneliness with 1 in 8 (19/150) reporting that they were lonely ‘very often’. Half of participants (75/150) reported a decline in their quality of life. Over 60% (91/150) agreed with government advice for those ≥70 years but over 40% (61/150) reported that they disliked the term ‘cocooning’. CONCLUSIONS: Given the likelihood of further restrictions in coming months, clear policies and advice for older people around strategies to maintain social engagement, manage loneliness and continue physical activity and access timely medical care and rehabilitation services should be a priority. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7928635 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Oxford University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-79286352021-03-04 Physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the COVID-19 pandemic Bailey, L Ward, M DiCosimo, A Baunta, S Cunningham, C Romero-Ortuno, R Kenny, R A Purcell, R Lannon, R McCarroll, K Nee, R Robinson, D Lavan, A Briggs, R QJM Original Papers BACKGROUND: Cocooning or shielding, i.e. staying at home and reducing face-to-face interaction with other people, was an important part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic for older people. However, concerns exist regarding the long-term adverse effects cocooning may have on their physical and mental health. AIM: To examine health trajectories and healthcare utilization while cocooning in a cohort of community-dwelling people aged ≥70 years. DESIGN: Survey of 150 patients (55% female, mean age 80 years and mean Clinical Frailty Scale Score 4.8) attending ambulatory medical services in a large urban university hospital. METHODS: The survey covered four broad themes: access to healthcare services, mental health, physical health and attitudes to COVID-19 restrictions. Survey data were presented descriptively. RESULTS: Almost 40% (59/150) reported that their mental health was ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ while cocooning, while over 40% (63/150) reported a decline in their physical health. Almost 70% (104/150) reported exercising less frequently or not exercising at all. Over 57% (86/150) of participants reported loneliness with 1 in 8 (19/150) reporting that they were lonely ‘very often’. Half of participants (75/150) reported a decline in their quality of life. Over 60% (91/150) agreed with government advice for those ≥70 years but over 40% (61/150) reported that they disliked the term ‘cocooning’. CONCLUSIONS: Given the likelihood of further restrictions in coming months, clear policies and advice for older people around strategies to maintain social engagement, manage loneliness and continue physical activity and access timely medical care and rehabilitation services should be a priority. Oxford University Press 2021-01-20 /pmc/articles/PMC7928635/ /pubmed/33471128 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcab015 Text en © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Physicians. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Original Papers Bailey, L Ward, M DiCosimo, A Baunta, S Cunningham, C Romero-Ortuno, R Kenny, R A Purcell, R Lannon, R McCarroll, K Nee, R Robinson, D Lavan, A Briggs, R Physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title | Physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_full | Physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_fullStr | Physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_full_unstemmed | Physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_short | Physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the COVID-19 pandemic |
title_sort | physical and mental health of older people while cocooning during the covid-19 pandemic |
topic | Original Papers |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7928635/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33471128 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcab015 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT baileyl physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT wardm physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT dicosimoa physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT bauntas physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT cunninghamc physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT romeroortunor physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT kennyra physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT purcellr physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT lannonr physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT mccarrollk physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT neer physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT robinsond physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT lavana physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic AT briggsr physicalandmentalhealthofolderpeoplewhilecocooningduringthecovid19pandemic |