Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cognitive and motor functions of older people: a 3-year cohort study

Abstract

Objective To analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cognitive and motor functions in older people. Method In this cohort study, 90 older persons underwent cognitive (Mini-Mental State Examination and Frontal Assessment Battery) and motor (Timed Up and Go test and International Fall Questionnaire) tests in two moments: before the first case of the COVID-19 pandemic have been identified in Brazil and after the end of the state of public health emergency. The multiple analysis of variance was applied with the Wilk’s lambda test to verify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the factors “time” (pre × post-pandemic), “group” (sex, marital status and education) and “interaction” (time × group). Effect size and statistical power are reported. Significance was set at 5%. Results Older persons presented cognitive decline during the COVID-19 pandemic (effect size: 0.43; statistical power: 99.8%; p=0.001). The decline was similar according to sex ( p=0.864), marital status ( p=0.910) and schooling ( p=0.969). The participants also suffered a motor decline during COVID-19 pandemic (effect size: 0.74; statistical power: 99.9%; p=0.001). The decline was similar according to sex ( p=0.542) and marital status ( p=0.260). Participants with lower educational level suffered greater physical decline than persons with higher schooling (effect size: 0.38; statistical power: 97.6%; p=0.004). Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic affected the cognitive and motor functions of older persons. Participants with low schooling suffered a greater decline of their physical health during the pandemic, a fact that should encourage further studies on this thematic.