Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, United States of America.
Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Nov 12;19(11):e0311792. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311792. eCollection 2024.
Social isolation and loneliness have both been associated with psychological health and cognitive decline in older adults. This study investigated the impact of social interaction through remote communication technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic on the cognitive and psychological status of older adults with and without cognitive impairment.
Participants were recruited from Boston (USA) and Chieti (Italy). The study used a randomized single-blinded controlled crossover design with an intervention (remote social conversations with research staff over 20-minute video or telephone calls three times per week) and a passive control condition, each one of 4-weeks duration. The primary outcome was a composite cognitive score change from baseline to week 4. Secondary outcomes included scales for mood, anxiety, and loneliness.
Out of 196 participants recruited from April 2020 to April 2021, 17% dropped out. Based on the blind MoCA, 52% had cognitive impairment, and 25% were at risk of social isolation according to the Lubben social network scale. We observed that larger social networks were linked to better cognitive status and lower depression and anxiety levels, while loneliness was directly associated to depression severity. Older adults with cognitive impairment exhibited higher levels of depression and anxiety and were at greater risk for social isolation. In terms of the intervention, 91% preferred telephone over video calls. The intervention did not lead to improvements in cognitive or psychological scores.
More work is needed to assess the utility of this intervention for the support of a heterogenous cross-cultural sample of older adults at-risk for social isolation, including individuals with cognitive impairment. Future research should explore longer intervention periods, categorize participants by call type, and target those meeting social isolation criteria.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04480112.
社交孤立和孤独都与老年人的心理健康和认知能力下降有关。本研究调查了在 COVID-19 大流行期间通过远程通信技术进行社交互动对有认知障碍和无认知障碍的老年人的认知和心理状态的影响。
参与者是从波士顿（美国）和切塞纳（意大利）招募的。该研究采用随机单盲对照交叉设计，干预措施为（每周三次通过 20 分钟的视频或电话与研究人员进行远程社交对话）和被动对照条件，各持续 4 周。主要结果是从基线到第 4 周的复合认知评分变化。次要结果包括情绪、焦虑和孤独量表。
在 2020 年 4 月至 2021 年 4 月期间招募的 196 名参与者中，有 17%退出。根据盲目的 MoCA，52%有认知障碍，根据 Lubben 社交网络量表，25%有社交孤立的风险。我们观察到更大的社交网络与更好的认知状态和更低的抑郁和焦虑水平有关，而孤独与抑郁严重程度直接相关。有认知障碍的老年人表现出更高水平的抑郁和焦虑，并且更有可能出现社交孤立。就干预而言，91%的人更喜欢电话而不是视频通话。干预并没有导致认知或心理评分的改善。
需要进一步研究来评估这种干预措施对支持有社交孤立风险的异质跨文化老年人群体（包括有认知障碍的个体）的效用。未来的研究应探讨更长的干预期、按通话类型对参与者进行分类，并针对符合社交隔离标准的人群。
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04480112。
