The Survey COVID-۱۹-related Psychological Outcomes on Elderly Health: A Review Study

Introduction: During the COVID-۱۹ pandemic elderly people experienced more loneliness, they were either staying alone at home or tolerating long-term care conditions in the hospital. Therefore, the aim of reviewing the articles published from ۲۰۲۰ to ۲۰۲۲ was to investigate the impact of COVID-۱۹-related psychological outcomes on elderly people in different countries of the world.Material and Methods: A literature search of research articles was conducted on PubMed and Google Scholar with the following key terms: “Covid-۱۹”, “pandemic”, “psychological outcomes”, “older adults”, and elderly people”. ۵۹ cross-sectional articles published in the years ۲۰۲۰ to ۲۰۲۲ were found and reviewed based on the title and abstract, and just ۲۰ cross-sectional articles were included in this review. Finally, Covid-۱۹ and its psychological impacts on elderly people were discussed.Results: The impact of the physical, psychological and social consequences of the corona crisis on the quality of elderly people's life is very noticeable. The findings indicate that, during the covid-۱۹ epidemic, lack of interaction and social distance during quarantine increases the risk of anxiety and depression in the elderly people. On the contrary, some studies showed elderly people were less psychologically distressed than younger ones and revealed that the limitations of the COVID-۱۹ pandemic did not have a major impact on loneliness and satisfaction with life.Conclusion: Limitations of interaction and social distance caused by quarantine during the COVID-۱۹ pandemic increase the psychological effects on elderly people such as fear, anxiety, and depression. However, elderly people’s ability to adapt to adversity may be not equal, depending on economic, social, cultural, and other individual factors. Hence, for discovering the relationship between the COVID-۱۹ pandemic and its related psychological outcomes in elderly people, more studies are needed.

Keywords:

COVID-۱۹ , elderly people , psychological impact , pandemic.