The Follow up of the Anxiety Levels of Elderlies During the ‘COVID-19’
Pandemic: A Prospective Primary Care Study
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 outbreak quickly spread to hundreds of
countries and became the first pandemic caused by coronaviruses. As the
epidemic spread rate gradually increased in Turkey, curfews were imposed
on individuals aged 65 and over as of March 21, 2020. We thought that
both the pandemic and the curfew caused anxiety in the elderly. This
study investigated the prevalence of anxiety symptoms by using Geriatric
anxiety scale in the elderly during curfew. The change in anxiety level
was measured over time. The second purpose of the study is to determine
the factors affecting anxiety. Method: We evaluated older people’s
anxiety status with an interval of 15 days and 6 months during Covid-19
pandemic by using Geriatric anxiety scale. People aged 65 and over among
the enrolled population of the FHC were contacted by telephone. Results:
250 people aged 65 and over were called by phone, 213 people were
reached.150 people volunteered to participate in the study. While the
mean scores of the first Geriatric anxiety scale were 1.0 ± 2.4, second
score applied at the 15th days was 0.5 ± 2.1, the third score applied at
the sixth month was 0.3 ± 1.8. There was a significant difference
between the three measurements (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Total anxiety
scores of our sample were low and there was a significant difference
between the three measurements performed 15th days and sixth month was a
decrease in anxiety. Contrary to what we expected, the elderly were not
affected by curfew, and anxiety levels were found to be significantly
decreased over time. Gender, education level, living alone, house type
were found related with changes in anxiety scores.