Psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults with and without cognitive impairment: a cross-sectional study

The COVID-19 pandemic provoked an enduring psychosocial impact on the general population, but less is known about its effects on subpopulations such as older adults at risk for dementia. In this cross-sectional study, we developed and tested the psychometric properties of the Psychosocial Pandemic Impact Scale (PPIS; n=181), and next tested associations between PPIS scores and demographics/cognitive performance. We also compared PPIS scores between healthy older adults (HOA) and people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and between those assessed before and after vaccination in Brazil (n=120). The PPIS demonstrated good internal consistency (α= .84) and sampling adequacy (MSA= .85) and was significantly associated with validated measures of anxiety and depression  (GAI: ρ= 0.49, p< 0.001; GDS: ρ= 0.48, p= 0.006) and quality of life (WHOQOL-Bref: ρ= -0.46, p< 0.001; WHOQOL-Old: ρ= -0.24, p= 0.03), confirming construct validity and scale reliability. HOA who were female and had more years of education and those with MCI who were younger and had better memory reported higher PPIS scores. One-way ANOVAs, including age and education as covariates, revealed that people with MCI reported higher PPIS scores than HOA before vaccination (mean difference: 5.3, p= 0.01) but not after. While HOA assessed before and after vaccination showed a similar psychosocial impact, those with MCI assessed afterward had a trend towards lower scores compared to those assessed before (mean difference: -4.7, p= 0.06). Our study provides a reliable instrument for assessing older adults' psychosocial pandemic impact and shows that people with MCI might be more vulnerable to such effects — which are mediated by memory performance, age, education, and gender. This data can help clinicians to identify and propose interventions targeting vulnerable populations during public health emergencies.