The medium-term consequences of a COVID-19 lockdown on lifestyle among Spanish older people with hypertension, pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disease, depression, and cancer.

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the associations of chronic diseases with changes in lifestyle and health behaviours in older people following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown in Spain and compared the differences in changes over time.

METHODS

1,092 participants (80.3±5.6 years; 66.5% female) from 2 Spanish cohorts were included. Telephone-based questionnaires were conducted to evaluate lifestyle and health risk behaviours at the end of lockdown and 7 months post-lockdown. Participants were classified as having physician-diagnosed chronic diseases based on self-reported data. Cox proportional models adjusted for major confounders were used.

RESULTS

Compared to those without the corresponding chronic diseases, older people with hypertension were less likely to report increased alcohol consumption (hazard ratio [HR], 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55 to 0.99). Pulmonary diseases were associated with lower risks of increased sedentary time (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.86) and worsened sleep quality (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.87), while cardiovascular diseases were associated with a lower risk of decreased sedentary time (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.88). Depression was linked to a higher likelihood of improved diet quality (HR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.00 to 2.36). Cancer pacients were less likely to have worsened sleep quality (HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.89) but more likely to have reduced their frequency of social contact (HR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.05 to 3.99).

CONCLUSIONS

Older people with chronic diseases showed beneficial changes in lifestyle and health risk behaviours after the COVID-19 lockdown. In particular, older people with hypertension, pulmonary disease, and cancer tended to make beneficial lifestyle and health behaviour changes. However, older people with cardiovascular disease and depression engaged in more health risk behaviours.