Older adults with COPD had depression during COVID pandemic: Study

The study explores how older people with COPD were at high risk of having depression during the covid pandemic. According to a new longitudinal study published online in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), older persons with COPD were at a higher risk of depression during the early phases of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The study looked at 875 people with COPD from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Ageing, a national study of Canadian seniors. Using longitudinal data, researchers were able to distinguish between 369 COPD patients who had a history of depression previous to the pandemic and 506 patients who had never experienced depression prior to the pandemic.

• Researchers discovered that 1 in 6 people with COPD who
• had no prior history of depression experienced depression
• for the first time during the early phases of the pandemic.
• These findings show the toll that the epidemic inflicted on
• many people who had previously been depression-free.

“Our findings highlight the substantial burden of COVID-19 on those who were mentally healthy prior to the pandemic,” said first author Aneisha Taunque, research assistant at the Institute for Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto. “It is evident that the pandemic has had a detrimental impact on the mental health of many individuals, even those who had no lifetime history of depression.”

“Older adults who have a history of depressive episodes are a highly vulnerable subset of the population, particularly those who faced numerous challenges with managing their chronic health conditions during the pandemic when access to regular health care was severely disrupted,” said co-author Grace Li, PhD candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of Victoria.

When the analysis was restricted to those who had a history of depression prior to the pandemic, the prevalence of depression was substantially higher, with approximately one-half of these individuals experiencing a recurrence or persistence of depression during the autumn of 2020.

“The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the risk of depression among those with COPD,” says co-author Ishnaa Gulati, a Master of Public Health Student at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. “There was already an established higher risk of depression among individuals with COPD when compared to those without COPD prior to the pandemic,” Gulati said. “When considering the mental health stressors during the pandemic, such as extended periods of lockdown, economic precarity, and concerns about contracting or spreading COVID-19, it is unsurprising that this group experienced major mental health challenges during this period.”

Although there is a burgeoning body of research examining depression during the pandemic, very little research has specifically examined the vulnerabilities among those with COPD. Understanding the risk factors for depression in subpopulations of older adults can aid health professionals in more effectively targeting treatment.

The study’s researchers highlighted several risk factors for both incident and recurrent depression among those with COPD, including loneliness, family conflict, and functional limitations. “We found that experiencing functional limitations approximately doubled the risk of depression among older adults with COPD,” said co-author Ying Jiang, Senior Epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada. “Physical activity is integral for maintaining functional status and reducing functional limitations among COPD patients, however many individuals with COPD are hesitant to engage in physical activity. Increases in time spent sedentary during periods of lockdown may have further ramifications for this population, potentially contributing to increases in depression.”