摘要：Background: Functioning of Social Behavioral Rhythms (SBRs) may affect resilience toward stressful events across different age groups. However, the impact of SBRs on the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) in elder people is yet to ascertain, representing the aim of the present report.
Design and methods: Follow-up of a peer-reviewed randomized controlled trial on exercise on old adults (³65 years), concurrent to the onset of the pandemic-related lockdown. Post-RCT evaluations occurred after further 12 and 36 weeks since the beginning of the lockdown phase. People with Major Depressive Episode (MDE) atweek-48 (follow-up endpoint)were deemed as cases, people without such condition were considered controls. MDE was ascertained using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9); SBRs functioning at week 12 onward, through the Brief Symptom Rating Scale (BSRS).
Results: Seventy-nine individuals (53.2%, females) entered the RCT-follow-up phase. The frequency of MDE did not significantly change before versus during lockdown (OR 2.60, CI95%=0.87-9.13). People with BSRS>1 standard deviation of the whole sample score atweek-12 had an inflated risk of DE during lockdown (OR=5.6, 95%CI:1.5-21.4) compared to those with lower BSRS scores. Such odd hold after excluding individuals with MDD at week-12. The
post-hoc analysis could be potentially affected by selection bias.
Conclusions: Overall, older adults were resilient during the first phase of the pandemic when functioning of pre-lockdown was still preserved, in contrast to the subsequent evaluations when the impairment of daily rhythms was associated with impaired reliance.
Significance for public health
The study confirms the resilience of older adults against depression during the pandemic. The lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic did not lower the perception of health-related quality of life in older adults living at home. The functionality of social behavioral rhythms seems to be an early determinant of the resilience of older adults against depression during lockdown and pandemic.
关键词：Key wordsenSocial and behavioral rhythmsmajor depressive disorderhealth-related quality of lifeCOVID-19resilience
