A national survey on COVID-19 second-wave lockdowns on older adults’ mental wellbeing, health-seeking behaviours and social outcomes across Australia (original) (raw)
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BMC Geriatrics, 2021
Background: The impact of severe second lockdown measures on older adults’ wellbeing is unknown. We aimed to (i) identify the impact of the second lockdown that resulted from the second wave of COVID-19 cases on older Australians’ quality of life; (ii) compare the impact of second wave lockdowns in Victoria, Australia’s second most populous State, to those in other States and Territories not in lockdown. Methods: A national cross-sectional study of community-dwelling older adults completed online questionnaires for quality of life, social networks, healthcare access, and perceived impact of COVID-19 between July to September 2020. Tobit regression was used to measure the relationships of healthcare service access and social networks with quality of life of older adults in Victoria compared to those in the rest of Australia. Results: A total of 2,990 respondents (mean [SD] age, 67.3 [7.0]; 66.8 % female) participated. At time of data collection, Victoria’s second COVID-19 lockdown ha...
PLOS ONE
Objectives To determine health impacts during, and following, an extended community lockdown and COVID-19 outbreak in the Australian state of Victoria, compared with the rest of Australia. Methods A national cohort of 898 working-age Australians enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study, completing surveys before, during, and after a 112-day community lockdown in Victoria (8 July– 27 October 2020). Outcomes included psychological distress, mental and physical health, work, social interactions and finances. Regression models examined health changes during and following lockdown. Results The Victorian lockdown led to increased psychological distress. Health impacts coincided with greater social isolation and work loss. Following the extended lockdown, mental health, work and social interactions recovered to an extent whereby no significant long-lasting effects were identified in Victoria compared to the rest of Australia. Conclusion The Victorian community lockdown had adverse health co...
BMC Public Health
Background Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western Australian government imposed multiple restrictions that impacted daily life activities and the social life. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on the community’s physical, mental and psychosocial health. Methods Approximately 2 months after a three-month lockdown, a cross-sectional study was opened to Western Australian adults for an 8-week period (25th August – 21 October 2020). Participants competed a 25-min questionnaire adapted from the Western Australia Health and Wellbeing Surveillance system. Participants provided information on their socio-demographic status, lifestyle behaviours, mental health, and psychosocial health during and post-lockdown. Open-ended questions explored key issues in greater detail. Changes between the lockdown and post-lockdown period were assessed using Wilcoxon signed rank test and One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Normal tests as appropriate. Sex diff...
Challenges of the COVID‐19 pandemic for social gerontology in Australia
Australasian Journal on Ageing, 2020
Dear Editor Due to the risk to older adults and the implementation of measures to suppress the virus, there is a critical need for research to identify and mitigate psychosocial impacts on older Australians of the COVID-19 pandemic. People with longterm conditions, those from low socioeconomic and minority backgrounds, Indigenous communities and residents of aged care facilities are particularly impacted. Some of these impacts reflect long-standing, intransigent and somewhat neglected social problems related to ageing. The COVID-19 pandemic has both exacerbated and exposed these problems. Unfortunately, although faced with the pressing need to understand and address these problems, researchers face substantial practical and financial difficulties, in addition to the scientific challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australian Journal of Social Issues
In 2020, Australia's successful COVID-19 public health restrictions comprised a national "initial lockdown" (March-May) and "ongoing lockdown" (July-November) for metropolitan Victorian residents only. We evaluated associations between ongoing lockdown and family finances and mental health. In the June and September 2020 Royal Children's Hospital National Child Health Polls, caregivers of children in Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) reported the following: job/income loss; material deprivation (inability to pay for essential items); income poverty; mental health (Kessler-6); perceived impact on caregiver/child mental health; and caregiver/ child coping. Data from caregivers (N = 1207/902) in June/ September were analysed using difference-indifference modelling (NSW provided the comparator). During Victoria's ongoing lockdown, job/income loss increased by 11% (95%CI: 3%-18%); Kessler-6 poor mental health by 6% (95%CI: −0.3%-12%) and perceived negative mental health impacts by 14% for caregivers (95%CI: 6%-23%) and 12% for children (95%CI: 4%-20%). Female (vs. male) caregivers, metropolitan (vs. regional/rural) families, and families with elementary school-aged children (vs. pre-/high-school) were the most affected. The ongoing lockdown was associated with negative experiences
Frontiers in Psychiatry
There is minimal knowledge about the impact of large-scale epidemics on community mental health, particularly during the acute phase. This gap in knowledge means we are critically ill-equipped to support communities as they face the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to provide data urgently needed to inform government policy and resource allocation now and in other future crises. The study was the first to survey a representative sample from the Australian population at the early acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing were measured with well-validated scales (PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHO-5). Using linear regression, we tested for associations between mental health and exposure to COVID-19, impacts of COVID-19 on work and social functioning, and socio-demographic factors. Depression and anxiety symptoms were substantively elevated relative to usual population data, including for individuals with no existing mental health diagnosis....
Exploring quality of life in Australian adults during a pandemic
Current Psychology
Many aspects of society changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many individuals experienced the introduction of travel bans and restrictions, COVID-19 related anxiety, greater risk to their health and an increased need for adaptive coping. Research has shown health-related quality of life was negatively affected during the time. However, the influence that these restrictions and experiences had on other various quality of life domains (physical, psychological, environmental, and social) is not yet known. Therefore, we aimed to examine the relationships between COVID-19-related variables, health variables, psychological variables and five domains of quality of life in Australian adults. Data was collected via cross-sectional online surveys from 264 Australian participants (Mage = 29.76 years, SD = 12.40). Five hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted. The findings showed better adaptive coping, decreased COVID-19 anxiety, and lower perceived health risk we...
2021
ObjectivesIn 2020, Australia’s successful COVID-19 public health restrictions comprised a national ‘initial lockdown’ (March-May), and ‘ongoing lockdown’ (July-November) for metropolitan Victorian residents only. We evaluated the impact of ongoing lockdown on family finances and mental health.MethodsIn the June and September 2020 Royal Children’s Hospital National Child Health Polls, caregivers of children in Victoria and New South Wales reported: job/income loss; material deprivation (inability to pay for essential items); income-poverty; mental health (Kessler-6); impact on caregiver/child mental health; and caregiver/child coping. Data from N=1207/902 caregivers in June/September were analysed using Difference-in-Difference modelling (New South Wales provided the comparator).ResultsDuring Victoria’s ongoing lockdown, job/income loss increased by 11% (95%CI: 3-18%); Kessler-6 poor mental health by 6% (95%CI: -0.3-12%) and negative mental health impacts by 14% for caregivers (95%CI...
Mental health of people in Australia in the first month of COVID ‐19 restrictions: a national survey
Medical Journal of Australia
Objectives: 1. To estimate prevalence rates of: a. Clinically significant symptoms of depression, generalised anxiety, thoughts of being better off dead, and irritability; b. High future optimism; c. Direct COVID-19 experiences, job loss, high worry about contracting COVID-19, and high adverse impact of the restrictions. 2. Describe relationships between experiences and outcomes. Design: Anonymous online survey Setting: Australia, 3rd April to 2nd May 2020. Participants: Australian residents ≥18 years. Main outcome measures: In previous fortnight: Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) score ≥10 indicating clinically-significant depressive symptoms; Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale 7 (GAD-7) score ≥10 indicating clinically-significant symptoms of anxiety; PHQ-9 Item 9 any thoughts of being better off dead and GAD-7 Item 6 any experiences of increased irritability. Study-specific visual analogue scale: 0 (no optimism) to 10 (very optimistic) score ≥ 8 indicating high optimism.
2020
BackgroundThere are concerns that COVID-19 mitigation measures, including the “lockdown”, may have unintended health consequences. We examined trends in mental health and health behaviours in the UK before and during the initial phase of the COVID-19 lockdown and differences across population subgroups.MethodsRepeated cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the UK Household Longitudinal Study, including representative samples of adults (aged 18+) interviewed in four survey waves between 2015 and 2020 (n=48,426). 9,748 adults had complete data for longitudinal analyses. Outcomes included psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ)), loneliness, current cigarette smoking, use of e-cigarettes and alcohol consumption. Cross-sectional prevalence estimates were calculated and multilevel Poisson regression assessed associations between time period and the outcomes of interest, as well as differential associations by age, gender, education level and ethnicity.ResultsP...