Epidemiology and Health

COVID-19: Original Article

The medium-term consequences of a COVID-19 lockdown on lifestyle among Spanish older people with hypertension, pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disease, depression, and cancer: Irene Rodríguez-Gómez, Coral Sánchez-Martín, Francisco J. García-García, Esther García-Esquinas, Marta Miret, Germán Vicente-Rodriguez, Narcís Gusi, Asier Mañas, José A. Carnicero, Marcela Gonzalez-Gross, José L. Ayuso-Mateos, Fernando Rodríguez-Artalejo, Leocadio Rodríguez-Mañas, Ignacio Ara; Epidemiol Health. 2022;44:e2022026. Published online February 21, 2022; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2022026

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Abstract Summary PDF Supplementary Material

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study investigated the associations of chronic diseases with changes in lifestyle and health behaviours in older people following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown in Spain and compared the differences in changes over time.

METHODS

1,092 participants (80.3±5.6 years; 66.5% female) from 2 Spanish cohorts were included. Telephone-based questionnaires were conducted to evaluate lifestyle and health risk behaviours at the end of lockdown and 7 months post-lockdown. Participants were classified as having physician-diagnosed chronic diseases based on self-reported data. Cox proportional models adjusted for major confounders were used.

RESULTS

Compared to those without the corresponding chronic diseases, older people with hypertension were less likely to report increased alcohol consumption (hazard ratio [HR], 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55 to 0.99). Pulmonary diseases were associated with lower risks of increased sedentary time (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.86) and worsened sleep quality (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.87), while cardiovascular diseases were associated with a lower risk of decreased sedentary time (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.88). Depression was linked to a higher likelihood of improved diet quality (HR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.00 to 2.36). Cancer pacients were less likely to have worsened sleep quality (HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.89) but more likely to have reduced their frequency of social contact (HR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.05 to 3.99).

CONCLUSIONS

Older people with chronic diseases showed beneficial changes in lifestyle and health risk behaviours after the COVID-19 lockdown. In particular, older people with hypertension, pulmonary disease, and cancer tended to make beneficial lifestyle and health behaviour changes. However, older people with cardiovascular disease and depression engaged in more health risk behaviours.

Summary

Key Message
Although the majority of older people with chronic diseases showed beneficial changes in lifestyle and health risk behaviors after the COVID-19 lockdown, public health interventions should be developed to prevent the dangerous long-term effects that COVID-19 pandemic-type situations may have on the health of older people, with a particular focus on older people with CVD and depression that seem to have experienced more health risk behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic than older people with other chronic diseases.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Global burden of sleep disturbances among older adults and the disparities by geographical regions and pandemic periods
Min Du, Min Liu, Yaping Wang, Chenyuan Qin, Jue Liu
SSM - Population Health.2024; 25: 101588. CrossRef
Nut Consumption and Depression: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses in Two Cohorts of Older Adults
R. Fernández-Rodríguez, R. Ortolá, Vicente Martínez-Vizcaíno, B. Bizzozero-Peroni, F. Rodríguez-Artalejo, E. García-Esquinas, E. López-García, A.E. Mesas
The Journal of nutrition, health and aging.2023; 27(6): 448. CrossRef

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