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
. 2022 Jun 9;6(5):igac041.
doi: 10.1093/geroni/igac041. eCollection 2022.

Pre-pandemic Physical Function and Social Network in Relation to COVID-19-Associated Depressive Burden in Older Adults in Sweden

Federico Triolo  1 , Marguerita Saadeh  1 , Linnea Sjöberg  1 , Laura Fratiglioni  1 , Anna-Karin Welmer  1 , Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga  1 , Serhiy Dekhtyar  1
Affiliations

Pre-pandemic Physical Function and Social Network in Relation to COVID-19-Associated Depressive Burden in Older Adults in Sweden

Federico Triolo et al. Innov Aging. .

Abstract

Background and objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as the measures intended to limit its spread, have likely affected older adults' depressive burden. Good physical functioning and a rich social network may benefit older adults' mental health. We examined whether pre-pandemic physical functioning and social network were associated with depressive burden during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Stockholm, Sweden.

Research design and methods: A telephone assessment of depressive burden using the symptoms of sadness, anxiety, worrying, reduced sleep, and reduced appetite was conducted in May-September 2020 in 930 older adults from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), an ongoing population-based study. Objective measures of gait speed, muscle strength, and balance; and self-reports of social connections and support were collected in 2016-2019. Logistic models were adjusted for sociodemographic, clinical, lifestyle, and pandemic-related factors (loneliness, change in physical and social engagement, and experience of death due to COVID-19).

Results: Only good muscle strength (odds ratio [OR]: 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32-0.85; ref: poor strength, ≥17 s) and rich social support (OR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.45-0.99; ref: poor support) exhibited an independent association with depressive burden, even after accounting for pandemic-related factors. A combination of good muscle strength and rich social support were associated with the greatest reduction in depressive burden (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.18-0.66; ref: poor social support and poor muscle strength).

Discussion and implications: Prepandemic social support and muscle strength could supply older adults with resilience against the depressive burden associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Aging; Coronavirus pandemic; Depression; Prevention; Resilience.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Joint influence of pre-pandemic levels of chair stand test and social support for the odds of experiencing moderate or high depressive burden during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in May–September 2020. COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019. Notes: Estimated from a logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, education, multimorbidity, previous depression, smoking, alcohol, and COVID-19 experiences (loneliness, change in physical and social engagement, and experience of a close death due to COVID-19). p Values from tests of parameter equality are presented above the confidence interval bars.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Agudelo, L. Z., Femenía, T., Orhan, F., Porsmyr-Palmertz, M., Goiny, M., Martinez-Redondo, V., Correia, J. C., Izadi, M., Bhat, M., Schuppe-Koistinen, I., Pettersson, A. T., Ferreira, D. M. S., Krook, A., Barres, R., Zierath, J. R., Erhardt, S., Lindskog, M., & Ruas, J. L. (2014). Skeletal muscle PGC-1α1 modulates kynurenine metabolism and mediates resilience to stress-induced depression. Cell, 159(1), 33–45. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.07.051 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alexopoulos, G. S., & Morimoto, S. S. (2011). The inflammation hypothesis in geriatric depression. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(11), 1109–1118. doi:10.1002/gps.2672 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Åsberg, M., Perris, C., Schalling, D., & Sedvall, G. (Eds.), (1978). CPRS: Development and applications of a psychiatric rating scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, (Suppl. 271), 69. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1979-32610-001. - PubMed
    1. Bauer, L. L., Seiffer, B., Deinhart, C., Atrott, B., Sudeck, G., Hautzinger, M., Rösel, I., & Wolf, S. (2020). Associations of exercise and social support with mental health during quarantine and social-distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey in Germany. MedRxiv. doi:10.1101/2020.07.01.20144105 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Belvederi Murri, M., Triolo, F., Coni, A., Tacconi, C., Nerozzi, E., Escelsior, A., Respino, M., Neviani, F., Bertolotti, M., Bertakis, K., Chiari, L., Zanetidou, S., & Amore, M. (2020). Instrumental assessment of balance and gait in depression: A systematic review. Psychiatry Research, 284, 112687. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112687 - DOI - PubMed