COVID-19 and Loneliness among Older Adults: Associations with Mode of Family/Friend Contacts and Social Participation.
Clin Gerontol
; 45(2): 390-402, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1585545
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Given physical/social distancing due to COVID-19, we examined associations between self-reported loneliness and changes in contact with family/friends and mode of social participation among older adults.METHODS:
Data came from the 2020 National Health and Aging Trend Study (NHATS) and its supplemental mail COVID-19 survey (N = 2,910 respondents who reported changes in loneliness during the COVID-19 outbreak). We fit a generalized linear model (GLM) with Poisson and log link using increased versus the same/decreased loneliness as the dependent variable and changes in frequencies of four modalities of contact with family/friends and social participation mode during COVID-19 as the independent variables.RESULTS:
Approximately 19% of respondents reported feeling lonely on more days during COVID-19. GLM results showed that decreased in-person contact (AOR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.17-1.73) and increased video call contact (AOR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.01-1.66) with family/friends and on-line participation in clubs, classes, and other organized activities (AOR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.04-1.77) were associated with higher odds of increased loneliness.CONCLUSIONS:
Virtual interaction is not an effective substitute for in-person interaction for older adults and is associated with increased loneliness. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Innovative means of making virtual contacts more similar to in-person contacts are needed to decrease older adults' loneliness during COVID-19.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Friends
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Clin Gerontol
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
07317115.2021.2013383
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