Older adults in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: effects on health, income and work

• Autor(a) principal: Dalia Elena Romero
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Jéssica Muzy, Giseli Nogueira Damacena, Nathalia Andrade de Souza, Wanessa da Silva de Almeida, Celia Landmann Szwarcwald, Deborah Carvalho Malta, Marilisa Berti de Azevedo Barros, Paulo Roberto Borges de Souza Júnior, Luiz Otávio Azevedo, Renata Gracie, Maria de Fátima de Pina, Margareth Guimarães Lima, Ísis Eloah Machado, Crizian Saar Gomes, André Oliveira Werneck, Danilo Rodrigues Pereira da Silva
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng; por
• Título da fonte: Cadernos de Saúde Pública
• Texto Completo: https://cadernos.ensp.fiocruz.br/ojs/index.php/csp/article/view/7795
• topic: COVID-19; Health of the Elderly; Loneliness; Income; Socioeconomic Factors; COVID-19; Saúde do Idoso; Solidão; Renda; Fatores Socioeconômicos

The goal of this study is to characterize the population of older adults in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic with regard to health, socioeconomic conditions, gender inequality, adherence to social distancing and feelings of sadness or depression. It is a cross-sectional study carried out with Brazilian older adults who responded to an online health survey (N = 9,173), using a “virtual snowball” sampling method. Data were collected online via a self-administered questionnaire. Prevalence and confidence interval estimates were performed and verified for independence using Pearson’s chi-square test. During the pandemic there was a fall in household income among almost half of older adults. Extreme social distancing was practiced by 30.9% (95%CI: 27.8; 34.1) and 12.2% (95%CI: 10.1; 14.7) did not adhere to it. Older adults who were not working before the pandemic adhered in greater numbers to extreme social distancing measures. Most of them presented comorbidities associated with a higher risk of developing the severe form of COVID-19. Feelings of loneliness, distress and sadness were frequent among older adults, especially women. The COVID-19 pandemic widened the inequality gap by affecting the most vulnerable older people. Strategies to mitigate loneliness and social distancing should consider social vulnerability and the marked difference between men and women in terms of household composition and socioeconomic and working conditions. The development of representative surveys of Brazilian older adults is recommended, investigating the impact of the pandemic on this population.