AGE Research Group, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Biomedical Research Building, Campus for Ageing & Vitality, NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
University of Plymouth, Faculty of Health, Plymouth, UK.
Age Ageing. 2020 Oct 23;49(6):901-906. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afaa149.
Older people are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a profound impact on research as well as clinical service delivery. This commentary identifies key challenges and opportunities in continuing to conduct research with and for older people, both during and after the current pandemic. It shares opinions from responders to an international survey, a range of academic authors and opinions from specialist societies. Priorities in COVID-19 research include its specific presentation in older people, consequences for physical, cognitive and psychological health, treatments and vaccines, rehabilitation, supporting care homes more effectively, the impact of social distancing, lockdown policies and system reconfiguration to provide best health and social care for older people. COVID-19 research needs to be inclusive, particularly involving older people living with frailty, cognitive impairment or multimorbidity, and those living in care homes. Non-COVID-19 related research for older people remains of critical importance and must not be neglected in the rush to study the pandemic. Profound changes are required in the way that we design and deliver research for older people in a world where movement and face-to-face contact are restricted, but we also highlight new opportunities such as the ability to collaborate more widely and to design and deliver research efficiently at scale and speed.
老年人受 COVID-19 大流行的影响不成比例，这对研究以及临床服务的提供产生了深远的影响。本评论确定了在当前大流行期间和之后继续为老年人进行研究的关键挑战和机遇。它分享了对国际调查、一系列学术作者和专业协会的意见的回应者的意见。COVID-19 研究的重点包括老年人的具体表现、对身体、认知和心理健康的影响、治疗和疫苗、康复、更有效地支持养老院、社交距离的影响、封锁政策和系统重新配置，以提供老年人的最佳健康和社会护理。COVID-19 研究需要具有包容性，特别是涉及到患有虚弱、认知障碍或多种疾病的老年人，以及居住在养老院的老年人。与 COVID-19 无关的老年人研究仍然至关重要，在研究大流行的热潮中，绝不能忽视。在行动和面对面接触受到限制的世界中，我们需要对为老年人设计和提供研究的方式进行深刻的改变，但我们也强调了新的机会，例如能够更广泛地合作，以及以规模和速度高效地设计和提供研究。
