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Mental Health Status of the Elderly Chinese Population During COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study

Background: COVID-19 not only threatened the public's physical health but also brought unbearable psychological pressure, especially for those vulnerable groups like the elderly. However, studies on the psychological status of older adults during this public health emergency remained scant. Thi...

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Autores principales: Zhou, Rui, Chen, Hao, Zhu, Lin, Chen, Ying, Chen, Boyan, Li, Ying, Chen, Zhi, Zhu, Haihong, Wang, Hongmei
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8149938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34054603
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.645938
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author Zhou, Rui
Chen, Hao
Zhu, Lin
Chen, Ying
Chen, Boyan
Li, Ying
Chen, Zhi
Zhu, Haihong
Wang, Hongmei
author_facet Zhou, Rui
Chen, Hao
Zhu, Lin
Chen, Ying
Chen, Boyan
Li, Ying
Chen, Zhi
Zhu, Haihong
Wang, Hongmei
author_sort Zhou, Rui
collection PubMed
description Background: COVID-19 not only threatened the public's physical health but also brought unbearable psychological pressure, especially for those vulnerable groups like the elderly. However, studies on the psychological status of older adults during this public health emergency remained scant. This study aims to investigate the mental health status among the elderly Chinese population during COVID-19 pandemic and determine the influencing factors of psychological symptoms. Methods: From February 19 to March 19, 2020, an online survey was administered to Chinese older adults using a convenience sampling method. Information on demographic data, health status and other epidemic related factors were collected. Specifically, the study defined the psychological status as five primary disorder–depression, neurasthenia, fear, anxiety, and hypochondria–which were assessed by the Psychological Questionnaire for Emergent Event of Public Health (PQEEPH). Standard descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data. Results: Of 1,501 participants recruited from 31 provinces in China, 1,278 were valid for further analysis. Participants' scores on each sub-scale were described in median and interquartile [M(Q)]: depression [0.00 (0.33)], neurasthenia [0.00 (0.40)], fear [1.00 (0.83)], anxiety [0.00 (0.17)], hypochondria [0.00 (0.50)]. Chronic diseases (depression p = 0.001; neurasthenia p < 0.001; fear p = 0.023; anxiety p < 0.001; hypochondria p = 0.001) and the BMI index (depression p = 0.015; neurasthenia p = 0.046; fear p = 0.016; anxiety p = 0.015; hypochondria p = 0.013) had significant impacts on all of the five sub-scales. Specifically, the rural dwellers had a higher level of neurasthenia, fear, and hypochondria. Besides, education level (p = 0.035) and outbreak risk level (p = 0.004) had significant impacts on the depression. Higher household monthly income per capita (p = 0.031), and the community-level entry/exit control (p = 0.011) are factors against anxiety. Conclusions: Most elderly residents reported mild negative emotions during COVID-19 and more attention should be paid to the recognition and alleviation of fear. Our findings also identified factors associated with the mental health status of the elderly, which is of practical significance in the design and implementation of psychological interventions for this vulnerable population during COVID-19 and future emerging diseases.
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spelling pubmed-81499382021-05-27 Mental Health Status of the Elderly Chinese Population During COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study Zhou, Rui Chen, Hao Zhu, Lin Chen, Ying Chen, Boyan Li, Ying Chen, Zhi Zhu, Haihong Wang, Hongmei Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Background: COVID-19 not only threatened the public's physical health but also brought unbearable psychological pressure, especially for those vulnerable groups like the elderly. However, studies on the psychological status of older adults during this public health emergency remained scant. This study aims to investigate the mental health status among the elderly Chinese population during COVID-19 pandemic and determine the influencing factors of psychological symptoms. Methods: From February 19 to March 19, 2020, an online survey was administered to Chinese older adults using a convenience sampling method. Information on demographic data, health status and other epidemic related factors were collected. Specifically, the study defined the psychological status as five primary disorder–depression, neurasthenia, fear, anxiety, and hypochondria–which were assessed by the Psychological Questionnaire for Emergent Event of Public Health (PQEEPH). Standard descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data. Results: Of 1,501 participants recruited from 31 provinces in China, 1,278 were valid for further analysis. Participants' scores on each sub-scale were described in median and interquartile [M(Q)]: depression [0.00 (0.33)], neurasthenia [0.00 (0.40)], fear [1.00 (0.83)], anxiety [0.00 (0.17)], hypochondria [0.00 (0.50)]. Chronic diseases (depression p = 0.001; neurasthenia p < 0.001; fear p = 0.023; anxiety p < 0.001; hypochondria p = 0.001) and the BMI index (depression p = 0.015; neurasthenia p = 0.046; fear p = 0.016; anxiety p = 0.015; hypochondria p = 0.013) had significant impacts on all of the five sub-scales. Specifically, the rural dwellers had a higher level of neurasthenia, fear, and hypochondria. Besides, education level (p = 0.035) and outbreak risk level (p = 0.004) had significant impacts on the depression. Higher household monthly income per capita (p = 0.031), and the community-level entry/exit control (p = 0.011) are factors against anxiety. Conclusions: Most elderly residents reported mild negative emotions during COVID-19 and more attention should be paid to the recognition and alleviation of fear. Our findings also identified factors associated with the mental health status of the elderly, which is of practical significance in the design and implementation of psychological interventions for this vulnerable population during COVID-19 and future emerging diseases. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-05-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8149938/ /pubmed/34054603 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.645938 Text en Copyright © 2021 Zhou, Chen, Zhu, Chen, Chen, Li, Chen, Zhu and Wang. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Zhou, Rui
Chen, Hao
Zhu, Lin
Chen, Ying
Chen, Boyan
Li, Ying
Chen, Zhi
Zhu, Haihong
Wang, Hongmei
Mental Health Status of the Elderly Chinese Population During COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study
title Mental Health Status of the Elderly Chinese Population During COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study
title_full Mental Health Status of the Elderly Chinese Population During COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study
title_fullStr Mental Health Status of the Elderly Chinese Population During COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study
title_full_unstemmed Mental Health Status of the Elderly Chinese Population During COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study
title_short Mental Health Status of the Elderly Chinese Population During COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study
title_sort mental health status of the elderly chinese population during covid-19: an online cross-sectional study
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8149938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34054603
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.645938
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