The following is a summary of “Incident and recurrent depression among older adults with asthma during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging,” published in the January 2023 issue of Pulmonology by MacNeil, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to determine the factors associated with the development of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in a subsample of older adults with asthma and no prior history of depression and to identify factors associated with the recurrence of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in a subsample of older adults with asthma and a history of depression.

The study utilized data from four waves of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging’s comprehensive cohort: Baseline (2011-2015), Follow-up 1 (2015-2018), COVID Spring 2020, and COVID Autumn 2020. The study included a sample of older adults with asthma (n = 2,047). The outcome of interest was a positive screen for depression based on the CES-D-10 during the autumn of 2020. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses examined the associations between various factors and depression outcomes.

Among older adults with asthma and no prior history of depression (n = 1,247), approximately 13.5% (95% CI: 11.4%, 15.9%) developed depression for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those with a history of depression (n = 770), approximately 48.6% (95% CI: 45.0%, 52.3%) experienced a recurrence of depression. The risk of incident depression and recurrent depression was higher among individuals who reported feelings of loneliness (incident: OR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.35, 2.66; recurrent: OR = 1.56, 95% CI: 1.21, 2.01), family conflict during the pandemic (incident: OR = 1.97, 95% CI: 1.39, 2.80; recurrent: OR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.27, 2.06), and difficulty accessing healthcare resources (incident: OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.26, 2.35; recurrent: OR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.92). 

The risk of incident depression was higher among individuals who experienced difficulty accessing resources (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.14, 2.04) and/or loss of income (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.12, 2.14) during the pandemic. The risk of recurrent depression was higher among individuals with functional limitations (OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.79).

The study highlighted the need for targeted interventions to support the mental health of older adults with asthma at risk of developing or experiencing recurrent depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Addressing factors such as feelings of loneliness, family conflict, limited access to healthcare resources, difficulty accessing resources, loss of income, and functional limitations may help mitigate the risk of depression in the population.

Source: resmedjournal.com/article/S0954-6111(22)00268-2/fulltext