Dakanalis Antonios, Psara Evmorfia, Pavlidou Eleni, Papadopoulou Sousana K, Antasouras Georgios, Voulgaridou Gavriela, Kosti Rena I, Vorvolakos Theophanis, Mentzelou Maria, Ntovoli Apostolia, Chrysafi Maria, Androutsos Odysseas, Jacovides Constantina, Serdari Aspasia, Giaginis Constantinos
Department of Mental Health, Fondazione IRCSS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Via G.B. Pergolesi 33, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca, Via Cadore 38, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Nutrients. 2025 Jan 10;17(2):249. doi: 10.3390/nu17020249.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to detrimental effects on diverse aspects of the mental and physical health of the general population worldwide. The elderly are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection compared to younger age groups. In this aspect, the purpose of the current survey is to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the interrelationships among the sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics, depressive behavior, quality of life, cognition status, physical activity and nutritional status of older adults.
The present study constitutes a comparative, cross-sectional study of 4162 older adults (mean age ± standard deviation: 72.13 ± 8.1 years and 75.22 ± 8.2 years in the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods, respectively, and a male/female ratio of almost 1:1). We used validated questionnaires to assess depression, cognition function, quality of life, physical activity and nutritional status of the elderly in the pre-Covid and post-Covid periods. Relevant questionnaires were also used for collecting sociodemographic data, while anthropometric data were measured using standard protocols.
The present study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced, in an independent manner, residence location, smoking status, overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity, depressive behavior, quality of life, cognition behavior, physical activity levels and nutritional status of the elderly. The COVID-19 pandemic was also related to employment and living status as well as family economic status. Nevertheless, the above three relationships were insignificant in the multivariate analysis.
The COVID-19 pandemic exerted deleterious effects on several aspects of the mental and physical health of the elderly, which appeared to strongly persist in the post-Covid period. Future prospective population-based and well-organized surveys should be conducted to establish whether there is a causality long-term effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on diverse aspects of the mental and physical health of the elderly.
背景/目的：新冠疫情对全球普通人群的身心健康的各个方面都产生了不利影响。与年轻人群相比，老年人更容易感染新冠病毒。在这方面，本次调查的目的是评估新冠疫情对老年人社会人口学和人体测量学特征、抑郁行为、生活质量、认知状态、身体活动和营养状况之间相互关系的影响。
本研究是一项对4162名老年人的比较性横断面研究（新冠疫情前和后时期的平均年龄±标准差分别为72.13±8.1岁和75.22±8.2岁，男女比例接近1:1）。我们使用经过验证的问卷来评估新冠疫情前后老年人的抑郁、认知功能、生活质量、身体活动和营养状况。还使用相关问卷收集社会人口学数据，同时使用标准方案测量人体测量数据。
本研究发现，新冠疫情以独立的方式影响了老年人的居住地点、吸烟状况、超重/肥胖和腹部肥胖、抑郁行为、生活质量、认知行为、身体活动水平和营养状况。新冠疫情还与就业和生活状况以及家庭经济状况有关。然而，在多变量分析中，上述三种关系并不显著。
新冠疫情对老年人的身心健康的多个方面产生了有害影响，这些影响在新冠疫情后时期似乎仍然强烈存在。未来应进行基于人群的前瞻性和组织良好的调查，以确定新冠疫情是否对老年人身心健康的各个方面存在长期因果效应。
