Artikel
Situation of older people at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review
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Autoren
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Ralph Möhler
- Institute for Health Services Research and Health Economics, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
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B. Gaertner
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
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J. Fuchs
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
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G. Meyer
- Institute for Health and Nursing Science, Medical Faculty, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
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C. Scheidt-Nave
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, Berlinn, Germany
| Veröffentlicht: | 5. Juli 2021 |
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Gliederung
Text
Background: People aged 60 years and older are considered a major risk group for severe COVID-19 disease. For safety reasons, measures to limit physical contact have been implemented in many countries implying various consequences for the health and wellbeing of older people.
Objectives: To describe topics in publications related to COVID-19 and older people at the beginning of the pandemic. The focus was on three fields of action of major importance for older people: personal factors, participation and activity, and environmental factors.
Design and methods: The systematic literature search was conducted in a database hosted by the Robert Koch Institute comprising COVID-19-related publications that were systematically and regularly identified in Medline, Embase, and preprint servers. Additionally, publications from 14 national professional societies and organizations were searched. Two reviewers independently selected publications and extracted data. A content analysis was conducted.
Results: We included 149 publications; about two-thirds were discussion papers. Major topics were: determinants for severe COVID-19 disease, adverse consequences to health, functional capabilities and wellbeing of older persons as a result of contact restrictions, decline in physical activity and health care discontinuities, and ageism. A great impact was expected in people with dementia and residents in long-term care facilities.
Conclusions: The contact restrictions during the pandemic are expected to have major direct and indirect adverse consequences affecting older peoples’ wellbeing, health status and dignity. There is urgent need for empirical studies as a basis for protecting the vulnerable group of older persons from future health crises and overcoming ageism.
Conflict of interest:
- RM confirms having no conflict of interest.
- BG confirms having no conflict of interest.
- JF confirms having no conflict of interest.
- GM confirms having no conflict of interest.
- CSN confirms having no conflict of interest.
Funding: The project was not externally funded. One author (Beate Gaertner) conducted parts of the review within another project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health (grant ZMVI1-2518FSB410).
