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. 2021 Jun 30;21(1):400.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-021-02352-1.

A national survey on COVID-19 second-wave lockdowns on older adults' mental wellbeing, health-seeking behaviours and social outcomes across Australia

Joyce Siette  1   2 , Karla Seaman  3 , Laura Dodds  3 , Kristiana Ludlow  3 , Carly Johnco  4   5 , Viviana Wuthrich  4   5 , Joanne K Earl  4   5 , Piers Dawes  4   6 , Paul Strutt  4   7 , Johanna I Westbrook  3
Affiliations

A national survey on COVID-19 second-wave lockdowns on older adults' mental wellbeing, health-seeking behaviours and social outcomes across Australia

Joyce Siette et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: The impact of severe second lockdown measures on older adults' wellbeing is unknown. We aimed to (i) identify the impact of the second lockdown that resulted from the second wave of COVID-19 cases on older Australians' quality of life; (ii) compare the impact of second wave lockdowns in Victoria, Australia's second most populous State, to those in other States and Territories not in lockdown.

Methods: A national cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older adults completed online questionnaires for quality of life, social networks, healthcare access, and perceived impact of COVID-19 between July to September 2020. Tobit regression was used to measure the relationships of healthcare service access and social networks with quality of life of older adults in Victoria compared to those in the rest of Australia.

Results: A total of 2,990 respondents (mean [SD] age, 67.3 [7.0]; 66.8 % female) participated. At time of data collection, Victoria's second COVID-19 lockdown had been in force for an average 51.7 days. Median quality of life scores were significantly higher in Victoria compared to the rest of Australia (t2,827=2.25 p = 0.025). Being female (95 % CI, -0.051-0.020), having lower educational attainment (95 % CI, -0.089--0.018), receiving government benefits (95 % CI, -0.054--0.024), having small social networks (95 % CI, 0.006-0.009) and self-reported physical chronic health conditions were all independent predictors of lower quality of life.

Conclusions: Longer-term studies are required to provide more robust evidence of the impact as restrictions lift and normal social conventions return.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus diseases (COVID-19); Lifestyle restrictions; Lockdown; Social networks; Wellbeing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of EQ-5D-5 L utility scores as individual responses across Victoria (A) and Australia (B) and graphical representation in Victoria (C) and Australia (D). Image produced by the research team
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of EQ-5D-5L individual domains mobility (A), self-care (B), usual activities (C), pain/discomfort (D) and anxiety or depression (E)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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