Worsened ability to engage in social and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic and older adults’ mental health: Longitudinal analysis from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging
Theodore D Cosco, Andrew Wister, John R Best, Indira Riadi, Lucy Kervin, Shawna Hopper, Nicole E Basta, Christina Wolfson, Susan A Kirkland, Lauren E Griffith, Jacqueline McMillani, Parminder Raina,- Life-span and Life-course Studies
- Health Professions (miscellaneous)
- Health (social science)
Abstract
Background and Objectives
Restrictions implemented to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 impacted older adults’ ability to engage in social and physical activities. We examined mental health outcomes of older adults reporting worsened ability to be socially and physically active during the pandemic.
Research Design and Methods
Using logistic regression we examined the relationship between positive screen for depression (CES-D-10) or anxiety (GAD-7) at the end of 2020 and worsened ability to engage in social and physical activity during the first 6-9 months of the pandemic among older adults in Canada. Interactions between ability to participate in social and physical activity and social participation pre-COVID (2015-2018) and physical activity were also examined. We analyzed data collected before and during the COVID pandemic from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, a nationally-representative longitudinal cohort: Pre-pandemic (2015-2018), COVID-Baseline survey (April-May 2020) and COVID-Exit survey (September-December 2020).
Results
Of the 24,108 participants who completed the COVID-Exit survey, 21.96%(n=5,219) screened positively for depression and 5.04%(n=1,132) for anxiety. Worsened ability to participate in social and in physical activity was associated with depression (odds ratio [OR]=1.85 [95% CI: 1.67-2.04]; OR=2.46 [95% CI: 2.25-2.69]) respectively and anxiety (OR=1.66 [95% CI: 1.37-2.02] and OR=1.96 [95% CI: 1.68-2.30]). Fully-adjusted interaction models identified a buffering effect of social participation and ability to participate in physical activity on depression (χ2 [1]=8.86, p = 0.003 for interaction term).
Discussion and Implications
Older adults reporting worsened ability to participate in social and physical activities during the COVID-19 pandemic had poorer mental health outcomes than those whose ability remained the same or improved. These findings highlight the importance of fostering social and physical activity resources to mitigate the negative mental health impacts of future pandemics or other major life stressors that may impact the mental health of older adults.