2023-09-22 15:02:09
In a new longitudinal study, Canadian researchers have shown the psychological stress of the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, published in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, found that older adults with the chronic lung disease COPD had an increased risk of depression at the start of the pandemic.
The researchers examined a sample of 875 COPD patients from a nationwide study of older Canadian adults. 369 of those surveyed suffered from depression before the pandemic, 506 had never been depressed. It was found that one in six COPD patients without depression developed depression for the first time at the beginning of the pandemic. One in two COPD patients who had depression before the pandemic suffered a relapse.
“Our results highlight the significant burden of COVID-19 on those who were mentally healthy before the pandemic,” said lead author Aneisha Taunque from the University of Toronto. “It is clear that the pandemic has had a detrimental impact on the mental health of many people, even those who have never suffered from depression.”
Functional limitations as a trigger
“Older adults with a history of depressive episodes are a very vulnerable subgroup of the population, particularly those who have faced numerous challenges in managing their chronic health conditions during the pandemic, when access to mainstream health care has been severely disrupted said co-author Grace Li, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Victoria.
The team identified several risk factors for new or recurrent depression in people with COPD, including loneliness, family conflict and functional impairment. “We found that functional limitations approximately double the risk of depression in older adults with COPD,” said co-author Ying Jiang, senior epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
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“Physical activity is an essential component for maintaining functional status and reducing functional limitations in COPD patients,” said the scientist. However, many people with COPD would be hesitant to engage in physical activity.
The researchers suspect that sitting for long periods of time during the lockdown may have contributed to an increase in depression. Another finding was that women with COPD had almost twice the risk of recurrent depression as men.
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