Su Yingying, Rao Wenwang, Li Muzi, Caron Gabriel, D'Arcy Carl, Meng Xiangfei
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Douglas Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2023 May;35(5):229-241. doi: 10.1017/S1041610222000199. Epub 2022 Mar 31.
Pandemics and their public health control measures have generally substantially increased the level of loneliness and social isolation in the general population. Because of the circumstances of aging, older adults are more likely to experience social isolation and loneliness during pandemics. However, no systematic review has been conducted or published on the prevalence of loneliness and/or social isolation among the older population. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to provide up-to-date pooled estimates of the prevalence of social isolation and loneliness among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and other pandemics in the last two decades.
EMBASE, PsychoINFO, Medline, and Web of Science were searched for relevant studies from January 1, 2000 to November 31, 2021 published in a variety of languages. Only studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic were selected in the review.
A total of 30 studies including 28,050 participants met the inclusion criteria. Overall, the pooled period prevalence of loneliness among older adults was 28.6% (95% CI: 22.9-35.0%) and 31.2% for social isolation (95% CI: 20.2-44.9%). Prevalence estimates were significantly higher for those studies conducted post 3-month from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to those conducted within the first 3 months of the pandemic.
This review identifies the need for good quality longitudinal studies to examine the long-term impact of pandemics on loneliness and social isolation among older populations. Health policymaking and healthcare systems should proactively address the rising demand for appropriate psychological services among older adults.
大流行及其公共卫生控制措施总体上大幅增加了普通人群的孤独感和社会隔离程度。由于老龄化情况，老年人在大流行期间更有可能经历社会隔离和孤独感。然而，尚未对老年人群中孤独感和/或社会隔离的患病率进行系统评价或发表相关研究。本系统评价和荟萃分析旨在提供2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行及过去二十年中其他大流行期间老年人社会隔离和孤独感患病率的最新汇总估计。
检索了EMBASE、PsychoINFO、Medline和科学网，以查找2000年1月1日至2021年11月31日期间以多种语言发表的相关研究。该评价仅纳入在COVID-19大流行期间开展的研究。
共有30项研究、28050名参与者符合纳入标准。总体而言，老年人孤独感的汇总期间患病率为28.6%（95%置信区间：22.9 - 35.0%），社会隔离的患病率为31.2%（95%置信区间：20.2 - 44.9%）。与在COVID-19大流行开始后的前3个月内开展的研究相比，在大流行开始3个月后开展的那些研究的患病率估计值显著更高。
本评价确定需要开展高质量的纵向研究，以检验大流行对老年人群孤独感和社会隔离的长期影响。卫生政策制定和医疗保健系统应积极应对老年人对适当心理服务不断增长的需求。
