Social isolation due to COVID-19: impact on loneliness, sedentary behavior, and falls in older adults.
Beatriz Caruso Soares, Daniele Alves Costa, Juliana de Faria Xavier, Larissa Alamino Pereira de Viveiro, Thaiany Pedrozo Campos Antunes, Fernanda Grazielli Mendes, Mayara Assis Kovachich de Oliveira, Cristina Petravicius Bomfim, Kung Su Hsien, Erika Christina Gouveia E Silva, José Eduardo Pompeu
Author Information
Beatriz Caruso Soares: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Daniele Alves Costa: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Juliana de Faria Xavier: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Larissa Alamino Pereira de Viveiro: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Thaiany Pedrozo Campos Antunes: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Fernanda Grazielli Mendes: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Mayara Assis Kovachich de Oliveira: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Cristina Petravicius Bomfim: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Kung Su Hsien: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Erika Christina Gouveia E Silva: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
José Eduardo Pompeu: Department of Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. ORCID
OBJECTIVES: The World Health Organization has recommended social isolation to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Thus, feelings of loneliness, sedentary behavior, and predisposition to falls have been reported more often due to the adoption of social isolation, especially for older adults. The objective of this study was to compare older adults' loneliness, sedentary behavior, and occurrence of falls before and during social isolation due to the pandemic as well as to analyze the association of loneliness with sedentary lifestyle and falls in older adults. METHOD: Retrospective analytical study conducted through an online survey with older adults from Brazilian states in social isolation, approved by the Research Ethics Committee (number 32168920.0.0000.0068). RESULTS: There was a significant increase in loneliness and sedentary behavior during social isolation (-value < 0.05 for both), but no increase was observed for falls (-value = 0.615). There was no correlation between the outcomes, nor was there a correlation between the outcomes and the number of days in social isolation. CONCLUSION: The results of this research show that adoption of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic brought an increase in sedentary behavior and loneliness for older adults but had no effect on the number of falls.
