Depression in older people during the Covid-19 curfew

Abstract

Purpose: Curfew was declared for the people 65 years and older to protect from the Covid-19 pandemic by the government in Turkey on 21 March 2020. The aim of this study is to determine the depression levels, factors affecting depression, concerns about Covid-19 infection, thoughts about curfew, lifestyles and ways of meeting their needs of the older adults during the curfew. Methods: In the first method, the data of the study were collected by the researchers by contacting the relatives of our university health department students by phone or video interview, and in the second, via Google Forms by the link of the study shared on social networks and online platform and a total of 1311 older people were included. Older adult information form and Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDS-15) were used. Mann Whitney–U Test, Kruskal Wallis Test and Multivariate Logistic Regression analysis were conducted. Results: Prevalence of depression was measured as 44.2% in the participants. Being aged 85 and over, illiteracy, living alone, having chronic disease, previous psychiatric diagnosis, anxiety about infection with Covid-19 and disapprove of curfew decision significantly increased the depression levels in older adults. Conclusion: The curfew during the Covid-19 pandemic increased the depression level in older adults compared to before the curfew.

Keywords

• Covid-19
• curfew
• depression
• older adults
• pandemic

References

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