Lockdown Effect on Elderly Nutritional Health

Abstract

Pandemics and lockdowns may be associated with unpremeditated consequences, such as bodyweight changes, isolation, as well as sedentarity. Reports have been published on malnutrition among patients suffering from COVID-19. This study aimed to highlight the short-term effects of the lockdown on the nutritional health of elderly people living at home and benefiting from home care services, yet without any COVID-19 pathology. In 50 subjects displaying weight, body mass index, and MNA score stability two months earlier, we observed significant alterations in these parameters following the lockdown. Thus, malnutrition rose from 28–34% to 58%. Furthermore, trigger factors for malnutrition changed, with social isolation accounting for 64% of the confinement’s deleterious effects among the elderly. In conclusion, despite the elderly being not directly affected by SARS-CoV2, the nutritional status of elderly subjects living at home with no or only mild autonomy loss was greatly and rapidly affected by the lockdown. Moreover, the main trigger factors for malnutrition were essentially related to social isolation and depressive syndromes. Knowing the impact of confinement on the elderly’s health, these results may help further modulate ongoing public health interventions in case of future lockdowns.

Impact of Daycare Service Interruption during COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical and Mental Functions and Nutrition in Older People with Dementia

“…In line with previous studies on older adults who are institutionalized or living at home, our patients exhibited significant worsening of nutritional status after discontinuation of daycare services [ 48 , 49 ]. Malnutrition among the elderly is a vicious cycle, even in individuals not suffering directly from COVID-19, as it is associated with weight loss and fragility, which in turn worsen a person’s health status.…”

Nutrition Risk, Resilience and Effects of a Brief Education Intervention among Community-Dwelling Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Alberta, Canada

“…Moreover, older adults are prone to developing frailty due to vulnerability to environmental stressors [ 9 , 10 ] such as a pandemic with mandated lockdown strategies that reduce physical contact with others and restrictions on shopping and travel. We found that nutrition risk was similar to other studies of the Canadian population [ 1 ] and was stable over the 3 months of the study, unlike Ghanem et al [ 38 ], who reported that malnutrition approximately doubled in prevalence during a one-month lockdown in France in March–April 2020. However, the population in that study was older, more frail and also had home care support suspended for that month, which likely exacerbated their decline in nutrition [ 38 ].…”

“…We found that nutrition risk was similar to other studies of the Canadian population [ 1 ] and was stable over the 3 months of the study, unlike Ghanem et al [ 38 ], who reported that malnutrition approximately doubled in prevalence during a one-month lockdown in France in March–April 2020. However, the population in that study was older, more frail and also had home care support suspended for that month, which likely exacerbated their decline in nutrition [ 38 ]. On the other hand, we did not have pre-pandemic information on the nutrition risk of our study group.…”

“…Statistics Canada estimates that, pre-pandemic, 15% of Canadian older women and 10% of Canadian older men report feeling socially isolated [ 40 ]. Ghanem et al [ 38 ] found that increased social isolation was a bigger driver than diet-related factors of the lockdown-related increase in malnutrition in older adults. Research shows a consistent link between social isolation and all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and poor mental health outcomes [ 52 ].…”

COVID-19 and related social distancing measures induce significant metabolic complications without prominent weight gain in Korean adults

“…Thus, it is possible to predict that social distancing will be associated with weight gain or deterioration of metabolic markers such as blood sugar and lipid profiles. Several studies report significant weight gain or worsening of cardiometabolic parameters during the COVID-19 pandemic (12)(13)(14)(15), while a few report a contrary result (16) or both results (17,18). Previous studies report controversial results because they were based on short-term follow-up data, mostly from questionnaires, leading to inadequate information on which to base an assessment of fundamental weight changes and related parameters after lockdown.…”