Factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study
Abstract INTRODUCTION: Psychosocial aspects need to be discussed in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, no studies have investigated the factors associated with social isolation and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults. Therefore, this study analyzed the association of socia...
Published in: | Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5792fb971218430aa9baddbc1f311bf2 2023-05-15T15:12:59+02:00 Factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study Maycon Sousa Pegorari Caroline de Fátima Ribeiro Silva Fabrícia Coelho de Araújo Juliana de Souza da Silva Daniela Gonçalves Ohara Alessandro Pena Matos Areolino Pena Matos Ana Carolina Pereira Nunes Pinto 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0195-2020 https://doaj.org/article/5792fb971218430aa9baddbc1f311bf2 EN eng Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822021000100326&tlng=en https://doaj.org/toc/1678-9849 1678-9849 doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0195-2020 https://doaj.org/article/5792fb971218430aa9baddbc1f311bf2 Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, Vol 54 (2021) Covid-19 Physical distancing Older adults Social isolation Loneliness Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0195-2020 2022-12-30T23:24:25Z Abstract INTRODUCTION: Psychosocial aspects need to be discussed in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, no studies have investigated the factors associated with social isolation and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults. Therefore, this study analyzed the association of social isolation and loneliness with socioeconomic, clinical, and health characteristics, and Covid-19-related variables, among community-dwelling older adults during the pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted via a telephone survey of community-dwelling older adults aged ≥60 years in Macapa, Amapa, Brazil. A structured form was used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using Pearson's correlation test and a linear regression model. RESULTS: Participants comprised 86 community-dwelling older adults with a mean age of 71.78+6.98 years. Among them, 9.3% were diagnosed with Covid-19, of whom 3.5% were hospitalized. Most participants reported no difficulty obtaining food, medicines, or attending routine medical appointments during the pandemic. Furthermore, 23.3% (n=20) were socially isolated, and 20.9% (n=18) reported feelings of loneliness. The mean values for fear, anxiety, and obsession were 19.01±7.25, 1.01±1.90, and 2.84±3.28, respectively. A moderate positive correlation was identified between loneliness and the number of diseases, and a weak positive correlation between loneliness and the number of medications and depressive symptoms and risk for sarcopenia. The linear regression model indicated that higher loneliness scores were associated with a greater number of diseases (β=0.288; p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest a probable resilience of the older population to Covid-19, despite the association of loneliness with many diseases in times of a pandemic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical 54 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
topic |
Covid-19 Physical distancing Older adults Social isolation Loneliness Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
spellingShingle |
Covid-19 Physical distancing Older adults Social isolation Loneliness Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Maycon Sousa Pegorari Caroline de Fátima Ribeiro Silva Fabrícia Coelho de Araújo Juliana de Souza da Silva Daniela Gonçalves Ohara Alessandro Pena Matos Areolino Pena Matos Ana Carolina Pereira Nunes Pinto Factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study |
topic_facet |
Covid-19 Physical distancing Older adults Social isolation Loneliness Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
Abstract INTRODUCTION: Psychosocial aspects need to be discussed in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, no studies have investigated the factors associated with social isolation and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults. Therefore, this study analyzed the association of social isolation and loneliness with socioeconomic, clinical, and health characteristics, and Covid-19-related variables, among community-dwelling older adults during the pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted via a telephone survey of community-dwelling older adults aged ≥60 years in Macapa, Amapa, Brazil. A structured form was used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using Pearson's correlation test and a linear regression model. RESULTS: Participants comprised 86 community-dwelling older adults with a mean age of 71.78+6.98 years. Among them, 9.3% were diagnosed with Covid-19, of whom 3.5% were hospitalized. Most participants reported no difficulty obtaining food, medicines, or attending routine medical appointments during the pandemic. Furthermore, 23.3% (n=20) were socially isolated, and 20.9% (n=18) reported feelings of loneliness. The mean values for fear, anxiety, and obsession were 19.01±7.25, 1.01±1.90, and 2.84±3.28, respectively. A moderate positive correlation was identified between loneliness and the number of diseases, and a weak positive correlation between loneliness and the number of medications and depressive symptoms and risk for sarcopenia. The linear regression model indicated that higher loneliness scores were associated with a greater number of diseases (β=0.288; p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest a probable resilience of the older population to Covid-19, despite the association of loneliness with many diseases in times of a pandemic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Maycon Sousa Pegorari Caroline de Fátima Ribeiro Silva Fabrícia Coelho de Araújo Juliana de Souza da Silva Daniela Gonçalves Ohara Alessandro Pena Matos Areolino Pena Matos Ana Carolina Pereira Nunes Pinto |
author_facet |
Maycon Sousa Pegorari Caroline de Fátima Ribeiro Silva Fabrícia Coelho de Araújo Juliana de Souza da Silva Daniela Gonçalves Ohara Alessandro Pena Matos Areolino Pena Matos Ana Carolina Pereira Nunes Pinto |
author_sort |
Maycon Sousa Pegorari |
title |
Factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study |
title_short |
Factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study |
title_full |
Factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study |
title_fullStr |
Factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study |
title_sort |
factors associated with social isolation and loneliness in community-dwelling older adults during pandemic times: a cross-sectional study |
publisher |
Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0195-2020 https://doaj.org/article/5792fb971218430aa9baddbc1f311bf2 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, Vol 54 (2021) |
op_relation |
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822021000100326&tlng=en https://doaj.org/toc/1678-9849 1678-9849 doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0195-2020 https://doaj.org/article/5792fb971218430aa9baddbc1f311bf2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0195-2020 |
container_title |
Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical |
container_volume |
54 |
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