by: laura lawson
the covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of older people living in the community, with those who are lonely faring far worse, according to new research from mcmaster university.
using data from the canadian longitudinal study on aging (clsa), a national team of researchers found that 43% of adults aged 50 or older experienced moderate or high levels of depressive symptoms at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, and the level of depressive symptoms increased over time.
loneliness was the most significant predictor of worsening depressive symptoms, with other pandemic-related stressors, such as family conflict, also increasing the odds.
the study was published in the journal
nature aging
today.
the research was led by parminder raina, professor in the department of health research methods, evidence, and impact and scientific director of the mcmaster institute for research on aging.
“the covid-19 pandemic has had a disproportionated impact on older adults, with groups of people who were already marginalized feeling a far greater negative impact,” said raina, lead principal investigator of the clsa.
“those who were socially isolated, experiencing poorer health and of lower socioeconomic status were more likely to have worsening depression as compared to their pre-pandemic depression status collected as part of the canadian longitudinal study on aging since 2011.”