One in eight older people in Canada, according to recent large-scale research that included more than 20,000, experienced their first episode of depression during the epidemic. The statistics were significantly worse for people who had previously struggled with depression. Nearly half (45 percent) of this population reported having depression by fall 2020.
Analysis of responses from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, which collected information from participants over an average of seven years, was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public health.
“The high rate of onset depression in 2020 highlights the important death toll in mental health caused by the pandemic in a group of mentally healthy older adults,” says first author Andie MacNeil, a recent Master of Social Work graduate from the Factor-Inwentash College of Social Work (FIFSW) and the Institute for the Aging and Life Course of the University of Toronto.
Although it is well known that depression among older adults increased during the pandemic, few studies have examined the proportion of people who developed the disorder for the first time or the proportion of people with a history of the condition who relapsed. (Also read | Number of hours worked in stressful jobs leads to risk of depression: study)
“The devastation of the pandemic, which has disrupted so many aspects of daily life, hit people with a history of depression particularly hard,” said co-author Sapriya Birk, a researcher formerly with Carleton University’s Department of Neuroscience, Ottawa, who is currently a Student Professor of Medicine at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, adding: “Health care professionals need to be vigilant when evaluating their patients for mental health problems earlier in life.” .
The researchers determined that a number of factors, including low income and savings, loneliness, chronic pain, difficulty accessing health care, a history of traumatic childhood experiences, and family conflict, were linked to depression in older adults during the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, older adults who felt their income was insufficient to meet their basic needs and those with fewer savings were more likely to experience depression during the pandemic.
“These findings highlight the disproportionate mental health burden borne by people of low socioeconomic status during the pandemic. Many of these socioeconomic risk factors may have been exacerbated by the economic precariousness of the pandemic, particularly for people with fewer resources.” says the co-author. Margaret de Groh, chief scientific officer for the Public Health Agency of Canada.
People who experienced various dimensions of loneliness, such as feeling left out, feeling isolated, and without company, had an approximately 4- to 5-fold increased risk of both incident and recurrent depression.
“It is not surprising that lockdown was particularly difficult for older adults who were isolated and alone during the pandemic. Social connections and social support are essential for well-being and mental health. Better support and outreach are needed for those who are isolated,” says co-author Ying Jiang, a senior epidemiologist with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Older adults with chronic pain and those who had trouble accessing their usual medical care, medication or treatment were more likely to be depressed during the fall of 2020.
“This finding underscores the importance of optimizing service delivery to ensure less disruption to medical services when future pandemics emerge,” said co-author Professor Paul J. Villeneuve, Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Canada.
People with a history of childhood adversity were more likely to be depressed during the fall of 2020. Older adults who experienced family conflict during the pandemic had more than triple the risk of depression compared with their peers who did not.
“Family conflict is a major stressor that can affect mental health even in the best of times. With the forced close quarters of lockdown and the stress of the pandemic, there was considerable strain on many family relationships. The resulting conflict was a risk important for depression,” says lead author Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson of FIFSW at the University of Toronto and Director of the Institute for the Life Course and Aging.
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