Anxiety symptoms during COVID-19 in older adults with psychiatric disorders

Elodie Pongan; Isabelle Rouch; Mathieu Herrmann; Catherine Perrot; Cécile Lebrun-Givois; Laurie Spirli; Chloé Briollet; Hélène Saint Martin; Bernard Laurent; Romain Bachelet; Hanane El Haouari; Aurélie Buisson; Arlette Edjolo; Jean-Michel Dorey

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1082807

Anxiety symptoms during COVID-19 in older adults with psychiatric disorders

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jan 16:13:1082807. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1082807. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Elodie Pongan^{1

2}, Isabelle Rouch^{1

3}, Mathieu Herrmann⁴, Catherine Perrot⁵, Cécile Lebrun-Givois^{1

5}, Laurie Spirli^{1

2}, Chloé Briollet¹, Hélène Saint Martin⁴, Bernard Laurent^{1

6}, Romain Bachelet², Hanane El Haouari¹, Aurélie Buisson⁵, Arlette Edjolo^{1

3}, Jean-Michel Dorey⁴

Affiliations

¹ Memory Clinical and Research Center of Saint Etienne, Neurology Unit, University Hospital of Saint-Étienne, Saint-Étienne, France.
² Clinical and Research Memory Centre of Lyon, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital des Charpennes, Villeurbanne, France.
³ INSERM, U1219, Bordeaux Population Health Center, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
⁴ Department of Aging Psychiatry, Hospital Le Vinatier, Bron, France.
⁵ Memory Clinical and Research Center of Saint-Étienne, Geriatrics Unit, University Hospital of Saint-Étienne, Saint-Étienne, France.
⁶ INSERM, U1028, CNRS, UMR 5292, Neuropain Team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Lyon, France.

Abstract

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, older people and patients with psychiatric disorders had an increased risk of being isolated. The French National Authority for Health has recommended a reinforced follow-up of these patients. Cross-sectional studies reported an increased risk of developing anxiety and depression during pandemic. The aim of our study was to identify factors associated with higher anxiety during the pandemic in older patients with psychiatric disorders.

Methods: STERACOVID is a multicenter cohort study with 117 patients followed-up by phone in two French geriatric psychiatry units. In this work, we used cross-sectional data from a prospective follow-up conducted between January and May 2021.

Results: We found that coping strategies, personality, and living conditions were associated with general anxiety (GA) level during the pandemic period. Higher GA was associated with less positive thinking coping strategy, more avoidance strategies, a lower level of extraversion, a higher level of neuroticism, more time spent watching the news, a higher feeling of loneliness, and a lack of physical contact.

Findings: Our study identified factors associated with a poorer experience of pandemic crisis. Special attention should be paid to patients with a high level of neuroticism and a high feeling of loneliness. Support could aim to help patients use more functional strategies: reducing avoidance strategies and increasing positive thinking. Finally, reducing time watching news could also be an interesting prevention perspective.

Clinical trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT04760795.

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; coping strategies; mental health; older patients; pandemic; personality.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04760795

Grants and funding

The STERACOVID study was funded by the non-profit APICIL Foundation. The funds were allocated after the evaluation of several scientific experts and the deliberation of the scientific council of APICIL Foundation. Yet APICIL Foundation has no role or authority in the design or conduct of the study neither in the collection, analysis, interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.