Győri Ágnes
Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre of Excellence, Budapest, Hungary.
SSM Popul Health. 2023 Mar;21:101346. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101346. Epub 2023 Jan 23.
Evidence indicates the coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the oldest age group: in Hungary 92.7 per cent of those who died due to COVID-19 infection were 60 years of age or older. The age structure of the deceased was very similar in other countries. As, due to their underlying health status, elderly people are more vulnerable to the serious diseases caused by the coronavirus, strict government restrictions were introduced worldwide to protect them when the epidemic broke out. However, this social isolation can cause severe psychological and emotional strain. The study aim was to examine how patterns of social relationships were related to changes in mental health of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary. We used the database of SHARE COVID-19 for our analysis. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted. Findings of this study suggest that the network lacking contacts increases the severity of depression, anxiety, sleeping disorders, and loneliness the most among the elderly. Interestingly, the group with an intense close-knit network had a higher risk of worsening mental symptoms compared to multiple contact actives. Moreover, electronic communication - telephone, Skype - did not help either: there was a particularly high probability of worsening depression in this group. Another interesting result is that both in the group dominated by family contacts and among those with multiple relationships, the chances of worsening mental symptoms were lower, thus, personal contact - whether they include family members or other acquaintances - is truly protective. Results demonstrate that both the network characterised by lack of contact network and electronic contact activity contribute to greater risk of worsening mental health within elderly. A network pattern characterised by various types and forms of contacts is the most beneficial to mental health, and intensive contacts of limited scope alone are not sufficient to protect mental health.
有证据表明，新冠疫情对老年人群体造成了严重影响：在匈牙利，因新冠病毒感染死亡的人中，92.7%的死者年龄在60岁及以上。其他国家死者的年龄结构也非常相似。由于老年人的基础健康状况，他们更容易感染由冠状病毒引起的严重疾病，因此疫情爆发时，世界各地的政府都实施了严格的限制措施来保护他们。然而，这种社会隔离可能会导致严重的心理和情绪压力。本研究的目的是调查在匈牙利新冠疫情期间，社会关系模式与老年人心理健康变化之间的关系。我们使用了“共享新冠数据库”（SHARE COVID-19）进行分析。进行了描述性分析和多变量分析。本研究结果表明，缺乏社交联系的网络在老年人中最容易加重抑郁、焦虑、睡眠障碍和孤独感。有趣的是，与有多种社交活动的人群相比，紧密联系网络密集的人群出现心理症状恶化的风险更高。此外，电子通讯——电话、Skype——也无济于事：这类人群中抑郁加重的可能性特别高。另一个有趣的结果是，无论是以家庭联系为主的群体，还是拥有多种社交关系的群体，心理症状恶化的几率都较低，因此，人际接触——无论对象是家庭成员还是其他熟人——确实具有保护作用。结果表明，缺乏社交联系的网络和电子通讯活动都增加了老年人心理健康恶化的风险。以各种类型和形式的接触为特征的社交网络模式对心理健康最为有益，仅靠有限范围内的密集接触不足以保护心理健康。
