Depressed mood and frailty among older people in Tokyo during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Background The study aim was to identify depressed mood and frailty and its related factors in older people during the coronavirus disease 19 pandemic. Methods Since 2010, we have conducted questionnaire surveys on all older residents, who are not certified in the long‐term care insurance, living in one district of Tokyo municipality. These residents are divided into two groups by birth month, that is those born between April and September and those born between October and March, and each group completes the survey every 2 years (in April and May). Study participants were older residents who were born between April and September and who completed the survey in spring 2018 and in spring 2020, the pandemic period. Depressed mood and frailty were assessed using the Kihon Checklist, which is widely used by local governments in Japan. We had no control group in this study. Results A total of 1736 residents responded to both surveys. From 2018 to 2020, the depressed mood rate increased from 29% to 38%, and frailty increased from 10% to 16%. The incidence of depressed mood and frailty was 25% and 11%, respectively. Incidence of depressed mood was related to subjective memory impairment and difficulty in device usage, and incidence of frailty was related to being older, subjective memory impairment, lack of emotional social support, poor subjective health, and social participation difficulties. Conclusions Older people with subjective memory impairment may be a high‐risk group during the coronavirus pandemic. Telephone outreach for frail older people could be an effective solution. We recommend extending the scope of the ‘reasonable accommodation’ concept beyond disability and including older people to build an age‐friendly and crisis‐resistant community.

Frailty and social participation in older citizens in Japan during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“… 26 , 27 Among older residents in a district of Tokyo, Okamura et al reported that between 2018 and April 2020, when the first state of emergency was declared, the proportion of people with depressed mood increased from 29% to 38%, and the proportion of people with frailty increased from 10% to 16%. 28 In our study, the prevalence of depressed mood was 20.8% in the Continued group and 37.4% in the Discontinued group, while it was 24.2% and 35.4% for oral frailty. It was noteworthy that the study participants lived in a city in which the COVID‐19 pandemic was not as serious as in metropolitan areas, with only 29.0 cumulative cases per 100,000 population as of January 2021.…”

“…Social participation is reported to have a preventive effect on the onset of depression 26,27 . Among older residents in a district of Tokyo, Okamura et al reported that between 2018 and April 2020, when the first state of emergency was declared, the proportion of people with depressed mood increased from 29% to 38%, and the proportion of people with frailty increased from 10% to 16% 28 . In our study, the prevalence of depressed mood was 20.8% in the Continued group and 37.4% in the Discontinued group, while it was 24.2% and 35.4% for oral frailty.…”

Frailty under COVID‐19 pandemic in Japan: Changes in prevalence of frailty from 2017 to 2021

“…23 is regarded as a factor of new incidence of frailty and prevalence of depressed mood has been shown to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. 13,30 Thus, it is inferred that this item affects frailty regardless of the occurrence of the pandemic. In contrast, the response of "No" for No.…”

Risk factors for frailty in older adults

“…Finally, there are 36 studies [4,5,8–41] with 58,028 people included in this systematic-review. Data extraction included the baseline characteristics of aging adults, their lifestyle habits, their accompanying diseases, and whether they had experienced falls.…”

“…Several recent studies have identified severity of frailty across various conditions, including old age, female sex, and reduced concentration and motivation. [4,5,8–41] However, high-quality systematic reviews are still in demand. Overall, we conducted this project to study the risk factors for frailty.…”