Department of Development of Nursing, Social and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 61, 02-091, Warszawa, Poland.
Department of Basic Nursing and Medical Teaching, Department of Development of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Lublin, 20-081, Lublin, Poland.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Nov 2;21(1):1976. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12029-4.
The unexpected changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic related to the fear of developing the disease, and the need for social distancing and isolation have had an effect on people's mental health. These drastic changes can result in the development of anxiety, depressive symptoms and sense of loneliness. Elderly and chronically ill individuals are at a particularly high risk of developing COVID-19, suffering severe illness and dying as a result of it.
The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of anxiety, depressive symptoms, irritability and loneliness in the elderly aged 60 years and older as a group exposed to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to analyze the relationships between loneliness and mental health of the respondents and sociodemographic variables and chronic diseases.
The study was conducted in Poland among 221 individuals aged 60+. The study material was collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-M) and a revised University of California Los Angeles loneliness scale (R-UCLA). Women accounted for 47.51% and men for 52.49% of study participants; the mean age was 65.18 (SD = 4.06).
In total, according to HADS-M, depressive symptoms were present in 19.15% of the participants and borderline states in 14.18% of them. Based on R-UCLA, moderate and moderately high sense of loneliness was present in 58.83% of the participants. Sense of loneliness was significantly correlated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms (p < 0.001).
In this study, one in five participants experienced anxiety and depressive symptoms. Two out of three participants experienced a moderate sense of loneliness. Individuals who displayed a higher level of loneliness also had a higher severity of anxiety level depressive symptoms and irritability. Elderly individuals should be under special care due to their high risk of experiencing physical and mental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 疫情相关的疾病恐惧、社交距离和隔离需求带来的意外变化，对人们的心理健康产生了影响。这些急剧的变化可能导致焦虑、抑郁症状和孤独感的出现。老年人和慢性病患者患 COVID-19 的风险特别高，因此会因 COVID-19 而患上重病并死亡。
本研究旨在评估作为 COVID-19 大流行负面影响的暴露人群中 60 岁及以上老年人的焦虑、抑郁症状、烦躁和孤独感的发生率，并分析孤独感与受访者的心理健康与社会人口学变量和慢性病之间的关系。
本研究在波兰对 221 名 60 岁以上的个体进行了研究。研究材料通过社会人口学问卷、医院焦虑抑郁量表（HADS-M）和修订版加州大学洛杉矶孤独量表（R-UCLA）收集。研究参与者中，女性占 47.51%，男性占 52.49%；平均年龄为 65.18（SD=4.06）。
根据 HADS-M，共有 19.15%的参与者存在抑郁症状，14.18%的参与者存在边缘状态。根据 R-UCLA，58.83%的参与者存在中度和中度高度孤独感。孤独感与抑郁症状的发生率显著相关（p<0.001）。
在这项研究中，五分之一的参与者经历了焦虑和抑郁症状。三分之二的参与者存在中度孤独感。孤独感程度较高的个体也表现出较高的焦虑水平、抑郁症状和烦躁程度。由于老年人面临着 COVID-19 对身心影响的高风险，因此应特别关注他们。
