key: cord-0866487-p57qzw55
authors: Hua, Cassandra L.; Thomas, Kali S.
title: Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) restrictions and loneliness among residents in long-term care communities: Data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study
date: 2021-07-02
journal: J Am Med Dir Assoc
DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2021.06.029
sha: 995657d3705a7d4113ad3e9ab19926c7cf370627
doc_id: 866487
cord_uid: p57qzw55

nan

Loneliness is associated with increased morbidity and mortality among older adults. 1 Residents 5 in long-term care (LTC) communities have higher rates of loneliness than community-dwelling 6 individuals. 2 Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) has disproportionately contributed to deaths 7 in LTC communities, leading to measures to prevent the virus's spread such as prohibiting 8 visitors. 3 Although potentially life-saving, these actions may have negative implications given 9 that social isolation increases risk for loneliness. 4 Anecdotal reports suggest that COVID-19 10 restrictions contribute to residents who have stopped eating and "given up". 5 However, to our 11 knowledge, the relationship between COVID-19 restrictions and increased loneliness among 12 residents in LTC communities has yet to be explored using nationally representative data. This 

We used data from the 2020 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) COVID-19 18 supplement, a nationally representative mail survey regarding older (age 65+) Medicare 19 beneficiaries' experiences during the pandemic (Supplement response rate = 83.5%). A total of 20 234 participants resided in a LTC community, which included any community (i.e., nursing We excluded surveys completed by proxies of respondents because loneliness measures were not 23 available (n= 100) and surveys with missing loneliness measures (n=11).

Participants were asked how often they felt lonely during the COVID-19 pandemic; they were 26 then asked "Is this more often, less often or about the same as a typical week before the COVID-27 19 outbreak started?" Responses included "more often", "less often", or "about the same." We 28 created an indicator which represented that a participant felt lonely more often than before the 29 COVID-19 outbreak started. Notes: Data come from the 2020 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) COVID-19 supplement. Results are weighted to account for the complex survey design. The sample included individuals in a long-term care community who were able to respond without a proxy and who had complete data on loneliness measures. * A 2 statistic was used Compares responses by whether or not a resident was in a long-term care community that implemented a restrictive policy.

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