Efeitos do isolamento social e da solidão na ansiedade, depressão, cognição e qualidade do sono em pessoas idosas, antes e durante a pandemia da COVID-19

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Social isolation and loneliness have become public health problems, being directly implicated in the relationship between physical and mental health in elderly people, posing greater risks during the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between social isolation and loneliness on anxiety, depression, cognition and sleep quality in older people, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The first article presents an integrative review of the literature in the area with elderly people, during the COVID-19 pandemic, carried out in the Virtual Health Library. The following search strategy was used in Portuguese and English: “social isolation and aging and COVID-19”; “loneliness and aging and COVID-19”; “social isolation and loneliness and aging and COVID-19; (in English: “social isolation and aging and COVI-19”; “loneliness and aging and COVID-19”; “social isolation and loneliness and aging and COVID-19”). The inclusion criteria focused on articles whose main outcome was social isolation and loneliness in the COVID-19 pandemic, covering studies published between January 2020 and August 2023. The exclusion criteria were articles that did not meet the scope of the study. search. The second article is empirical, having been carried out with elderly people, who were evaluated before and during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cognition was verified using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment; depressive symptoms, using the Beck Depression Inventory II; anxiety symptoms, using the Beck Depression Inventory; sleep quality, using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; daytime sleepiness, using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale; isolation, using the Duke Social Support Index, and loneliness, using the UCLA Loneliness Scale. RESULTS: Article 1: “Repercussions of Social Isolation and Loneliness in elderly people during the COVID-19 Pandemic: an integrative review”. 807 records were found and, after applying the established eligibility criteria, 28 articles remained for discussion. Among the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of older people, it is worth highlighting that prolonged social isolation is associated with loneliness and can negatively affect cognition, increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression. It is worth mentioning that the quality of sleep was compromised in this context. Article 2: “Influence of Loneliness and Social Isolation, before and during the Covid-19 Pandemic, on mood, cognition and sleep”. The study evaluated 82 elderly people, graduates of the Universidade Aberta à Maturidade (UAMA), with a median age of 69.16 years (ranges: 60.00–85.97 years), before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. The results revealed that loneliness is related to worsening anxiety symptoms (p = 0.008) and sleep quality (p = 0.011). Furthermore, isolation is related to worsening sleep quality (p = 0.011). Participants who did not isolate themselves felt more anxious (p = 0.021). It is worth highlighting that elderly people, who are not isolated (p = 0.035) and those who are not lonely (p = 0.007), show greater cognitive performance over time. CONCLUSION: Social isolation is related to worsening sleep quality. Loneliness is related to worsening anxiety symptoms and also the quality of sleep. From another perspective, the group represented by high social support, during the COVID 19 pandemic, increased anxiety in relation to the group with low social support. In this context, better cognitive performance is related to non-isolated and non-lonely participants.