The impact of COVID-19 on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States and Latin America.

Document Type

Article

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults from vulnerable ethnoracial groups are at high risk of infection, hospitalization, and death. We aimed to explore the pandemic's impact on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States (US), Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.

METHODS: 1,608 (646 White, 852 Latino, 77 Black, 33 Asian; 72% female) individuals from the US and four Latin American countries aged ≥ 55 years completed an online survey regarding well-being and cognition during the pandemic between May and September 2020. Outcome variables (pandemic impact, discrimination, loneliness, purpose of life, subjective cognitive concerns) were compared across four US ethnoracial groups and older adults living in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.

FINDINGS: Mean age for all participants was 66.7 (

INTERPRETATION: The COVID-19 pandemic has differentially impacted the well-being of older ethnically diverse individuals in the US and Latin America. Future studies should examine how mediators like income and coping skills modify the pandemic's impact.

FUNDING: Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry.

Publication Date

5-1-2021

Publication Title

EClinicalMedicine

ISSN

2589-5370

Volume

35

First Page

100848

Last Page

100848

PubMed ID

33997742

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100848

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