ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Smoking is a risk factor for progression of COVID-19, with smokers having higher odds of COVID-19 progression than never-smokers. This study presents novel findings on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on smoking behaviour in older adults. METHODS: Panel data were obtained from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N= 60160, 12% smokers, 55% women, 62% married, mean age = 67 years, 23% employed). Fixed effect regression models were used to estimate the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic affected smoking behaviour. A separate model was estimated for men, women, employed, and retired. RESULTS: The findings suggest a significant and positive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on smoking behaviour (ß= 0.024; p<0.001). The estimated effects were stronger for men and for the sample of individuals reporting being employed. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, I provide robust evidence of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on smoking behaviour using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. This large and representative dataset is uniquely suited for the analysis. I find evidence that the proportion of smokers has increased significantly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. IMPLICATIONS: In the UK, the proportion of smokers increased significantly as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings suggest that smoking behaviour may have been used as a mechanism to cope with depression, stress, and anxiety due to the COVID-19 outbreak. To the extent to which smoking behaviour has been used as a coping mechanism to deal with job-related issues, targeted policy action to provide financial stability to those in worse economic situations may be have beneficial effects on smoking behaviour.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on depression in the older population, an especially vulnerable group for which to date there is limited empirical research. METHODS: We employ a panel data consisting of seven waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (2010-2020). The breadth and depth of the data considered enabled us to control for individual fixed effects, to adjust for pre-pandemic trends in depression levels and to perform a heterogeneity analysis, depending on the intensity of the lockdown measures implemented and relevant socioeconomic characteristics. RESULTS: We find that, following the COVID-19 pandemic, study participants reported a statistically significant increase in the depressive symptoms by around 0.7 over 8 points as measured by the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) index. The estimated coefficients were larger in November than in July, for individuals who lost their job, retired and women. Interestingly, we observed that mental health has worsened substantially relative to the pre-pandemic period across all income groups of the older population, suggesting a limited role of income as a protective mechanism for mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide compelling evidence that depression levels amongst older adults have worsened considerably following the COVID-19 pandemic, and that factors other than income, such as social interactions, may be highly relevant for well-being in later life.