Impact of COVID-19 on people with physical disabilities: A rapid review

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic caused drastic changes in the lives of the general population. People with physical disabilities, who commonly encounter daily challenges such as barriers to community mobility, reduced access to healthcare services and higher risk of suffering from depression, may face additional challenges in the context of the pandemic. Objective This study aims to review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated isolation and protective measures, among people with physical disabilities. Methods A rapid review of the published literature was conducted on August 10, 2020 through a search in six online databases to synthesize results from original studies regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with physical disabilities. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health was used to describe the population and the personal and environmental factors with a unified and standard health language. Results Eleven records were extracted from 1621 individual papers retrieved from the search strategy. Various impacts on daily functioning such as a decrease in access to healthcare have been noted during the pandemic. Changes in social and lifestyle habits, mood changes and decreased levels of physical activity were also noted. Conclusions Our results highlighted the lack of early research about the impacts of COVID-19 experienced by people with physical disabilities. Future studies should focus on specific consequences and needs of this vulnerable population to ensure their inclusion in public health recommendations and consideration by policy makers.

Mental health and social interactions of older people with physical disabilities in England during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal cohort study

“…[4][5][6] People with physical disabilities might be at particular risk of adverse mental health and reduced social contact. [7][8][9] Rates of physical disability increase with age, with about a third of adults aged 60 years and older in high-income countries living with a disability. 10 Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, this group faced chal lenges in terms of mobility, access to health-care services, and social contact, and had more emotional distress, a higher risk of loneliness, and a poorer health-related quality of life than people without a physical disability.…”

“…14 A rapid review of studies of people with stroke, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and other conditions indicated that most studies focused on access to care, were cross-sectional, and did not involve standardised measures of mental health. 8 One longitudinal study assessed 67 people with multiple sclerosis 6 months before and then during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and showed no changes in symptoms of anxiety and depres sion across the two timepoints. 15 This finding led the authors to suggest that people with multiple sclerosis were particu larly resilient; however, this study did not include a comparison group of people without multiple sclerosis, making it difficult to confirm this conclusion.…”

Accelerated Repurposing and Drug Development of Pulmonary Hypertension Therapies for COVID-19 Treatment Using an AI-Integrated Biosimulation Platform

“…The speed of the COVID 19 vaccine development was [ 8 ]. Despite some critical notes [ 9 , 10 ], a few anti-COVID-19 vaccines were approved, and public vaccination procedure have been started. At the same time, various pharmaceuticals compounds against coronavirus infection are still being tested and yet to demonstrate their significantly high efficacy rates over placebo as well as lower mortality.…”

Are older people with disabilities neglected in the COVID-19 pandemic?

“…Health and rehabilitation access might also have decreased, partly because non-urgent appointments were postponed or went online, and partly because people became too fearful to go to the doctor. 5 Across Europe, an estimated 1•3-2•2 million people were not receiving the rehabilitation care that they needed each day because of reductions in services in the early months of the pandemic. 6 The consequences will be more pronounced for people with disabilities, who are more likely to need regular health care.…”