Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep 22:8:715294.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.715294. eCollection 2021.

Psychological Well-Being of Older Adults With Cognitive Deterioration During Quarantine: Preliminary Results From the GeroCovid Initiative

Alessandra Coin  1 , Maria Devita  2 , Caterina Trevisan  1 , Francesca Biasin  1 , Camilla Terziotti  1 , Susanna Del Signore  3 , Stefano Fumagalli  4 , Pietro Gareri  5 , Alba Malara  6 , Enrico Mossello  4 , Stefano Volpato  7 , Fabio Monzani  8 , Giuseppe Bellelli  9 , Gianluca Zia  3 , Anette Hylen Ranhoff  10 , Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi  11
Affiliations

Psychological Well-Being of Older Adults With Cognitive Deterioration During Quarantine: Preliminary Results From the GeroCovid Initiative

Alessandra Coin et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Objectives: The spread of COVID-19 has undeniably unsettled the social, psychological and emotional life of the entire world population. Particular attention should be paid to older adults with dementia, given their vulnerability to emotional stressors. The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the impact of the first wave quarantine related to Covid-19 on psychological and affective well-being of older adults with mild/major neurocognitive disorders and of their caregivers. Methods: Data on participants' assessment before the quarantine (PREQ) were retrospectively collected. Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia were recruited from different Centers for Cognitive Decline and Dementia in Italy. During the quarantine, psychological and affective well-being were evaluated by phone through the administrations of scales measuring anxiety and depression (DASS), perceived stress (PSS), coping strategies (COPE) and the caregivers' burden (CBI). The scales' results were compared across participants' PREQ cognitive level (Mini Mental State Examination, MMSE ≥25, 23-24, and ≤ 22) with multiple linear regression models. Results: The sample included 168 patients (64% women) with a mean age of 79 ± 7 years. After adjusting for potential confounders, more severe cognitive impairment was independently associated with higher DASS and PSS score, and poorer coping strategies (p < 0.05). Cognitive functioning was also inversely associated with CBI. Conclusions: The impact of the quarantine on the psycho-affective well-being of individuals with MCI and dementia and on caregivers' burden varies according to the PREQ cognitive functioning with more severely impaired patients having worse outcomes.

Keywords: COVID-19; dementia; distress; older adults; psychological well-being.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

SS is shareholder and GZ is shareholder and employee of Bluecompanion Ltd (London, UK). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of study design. PREQ, evaluation before quarantine; DQ, evaluation during quarantine; POSTQ, evaluation after quarantine; CGA, comprehensive geriatric assessment; MMSE, Mini Mental State Examination.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wilder-Smith A, Freedman DO. Isolation, quarantine, social distancing and community containment: pivotal role for old-style public health measures in the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. J Travel Med. (2020) 27:taaa020. 10.1093/jtm/taaa020 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pancani L, Marinucci M, Aureli N, Riva P. Forced social isolation and mental health: a study on 1,006 Italians under COVID-19 lockdown. Front Psychol. (2021) 12:1540. 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663799 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cagnin A, Di Lorenzo R, Marra C, Bonanni L, Cupidi C, Laganà V, et al. . Behavioral and psychological effects of coronavirus disease-19 quarantine in patients with dementia. Front Psychiatry. (2020) 11:916. 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.578015 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Orrù G, Ciacchini R, Gemignani A, Conversano C. Psychological intervention measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clin Neuropsychiatry. (2020) 17:76–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yanez ND, Weiss NS, Romand JA, Treggiari MM. COVID-19 mortality risk for older men and women. BMC Public Health. (2020) 20:1–7. 10.1186/s12889-020-09826-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed