Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany.
Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2022 Feb;272(1):53-66. doi: 10.1007/s00406-021-01340-1. Epub 2021 Oct 13.
Within the elderly population, psychogeriatric patients may be particularly susceptible to negative mental health effects of the coronavirus crisis. Detailed information about the psychosocial well-being of psychogeriatric patients during the pandemic is still sparse. Here we examined which aspects of subjective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic especially affect levels of depression, anxiety and quality of life in psychogeriatric patients with and without cognitive impairment. A cross-sectional paper survey was conducted during the first German lockdown among patients with a diagnosed psychiatric disorder (≥ 60 years) or a diagnosed neurodegenerative disease (regardless of their age) from the department for neurodegenerative diseases and geriatric psychiatry at the University of Bonn. The WHO-5-, GAD-7- and WHOQOL-old score were used to determine levels of depression, anxiety and quality of life. The second part obtained information about the subjective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical analysis included among others principal component analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. COVID-19-related, immediate distress was a strong predictor of elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety and a reduced quality of life. COVID-19-related concerns regarding health and financial security, however, were not significantly associated with negative mental health outcomes. The overall prevalence of symptoms of depression (50.8% [95% CI 43.8-57.6%]) and anxiety (32.7% [95% CI 26.4-39.2%]) among psychogeriatric patients was high. Our findings indicate that psychogeriatric patients are not significantly affected by COVID-19-related concerns but are primarily suffering from emotional consequences resulting from changed living conditions due to the pandemic.
在老年人群体中，精神科患者可能特别容易受到冠状病毒危机对心理健康的负面影响。关于大流行期间精神科老年患者的社会心理福利的详细信息仍然很少。在这里，我们研究了主观体验新冠疫情的哪些方面特别影响有认知障碍和无认知障碍的精神科老年患者的抑郁、焦虑和生活质量水平。在德国第一次封锁期间，波恩大学神经退行性疾病和老年精神病学系对诊断出精神障碍（≥60 岁）或诊断出神经退行性疾病（无论年龄大小）的患者进行了横断面纸质问卷调查。使用 WHO-5、GAD-7 和 WHOQOL-old 评分来确定抑郁、焦虑和生活质量水平。第二部分获取了有关新冠疫情主观体验的信息。统计分析包括主成分分析和多元线性回归分析等。新冠疫情相关的即时困扰是抑郁、焦虑症状加重和生活质量降低的一个强有力的预测因素。然而，与负面心理健康结果无关的是与健康和财务安全相关的新冠疫情担忧。精神科老年患者中出现抑郁症状（50.8%[95%CI 43.8-57.6%]）和焦虑症状（32.7%[95%CI 26.4-39.2%]）的总体患病率很高。我们的研究结果表明，精神科老年患者并没有受到与新冠疫情相关的担忧的显著影响，而是主要受到因大流行而改变的生活条件造成的情绪后果的影响。
