• Lesley Brown, Rahena Mossabir, Nicola Harrison, Caroline Brundle, Jane Smith, and Andrew Clegg.
• Academic Unit of Elderly Care & Rehabilitation, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford, BD9 6RJ, UK.
• Age Ageing. 2021 Feb 26; 50 (2): 341-346.

BackgroundIn response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the UK government introduced social distancing measures and identified specific populations at high risk from the virus. People ≥70 were deemed 'Clinically Vulnerable'. Distancing measures were introduced to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19. However, these may have a negative impact on older people who are vulnerable to social isolation and may have challenges accessing services and provisions.ObjectivesTo investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on the lives of older people.Study Design And SettingCross-sectional telephone survey.ParticipantsCommunity-dwelling older people, 76-97 years.OutcomesHealth anxiety; General health (RAND Short-form 36 Survey); Physical activity; Depression (PHQ-8); Anxiety (GAD-2); Loneliness; Access to services; Challenges, concerns and positive experiences.Data AnalysisCounts (%), means (SDs). Thematic analysis was used to identify themes from open questions.Resultsn = 142. 52% did not worry about their health; 76% rated their health as 'good', 'very good' or 'excellent'; <10% met the criteria indicative of depression (PHQ-8), or anxiety (GAD-2); 42% were less active than before lockdown; and 27% were lonely at least some of the time. Over half of participants identified positive aspects.ConclusionsMost participants reported good health with low levels of health anxiety, anxiety and depression. Many were able to identify positive aspects to lockdown and may be better equipped to deal with lockdown than anticipated. Strategies may be required to ameliorate the negative impact of loneliness for a minority of older people, and help some resume previous activity levels and pursuits.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

37 keywords...

hide…