Cross-national prevalence of mental disorders in older adults exposed to COVID-19 information

Abstract

Objective: to verify the association between exposure to COVID-19 news and information through social networks, television and radio, as well as to screen for geriatric anxiety and depression comparing Peru, Brazil and Mexico. Method: a cross-sectional design, web-based survey with non-probability sampling and validated scales to screen for geriatric anxiety and depression, as well as data analysis by hierarchical binary logistic regression. Results: there was prevalence of female gender (n=4,937; 61.9%), non-white race/skin color (n=4,724; 59.2%) and age group of 60 to 64 years old (n=2,584; 32.4%) among the 7,976 participants. COVID-19 news and information were accessed through television (n=6,187;77.6%), a few or some times a week (n=4,322, 54.2%) and for at least three hours (n=2,596; 32.5%). In the final models and both for anxiety and for depression, the significant differences (p-value<0.001) for the “use”, “exposure frequency” and “exposure hours” aspects changed depending on the media. The prevalence of the outcomes in the three countries was low. Conclusion: frequent exposure to media was associated with higher prevalence of geriatric anxiety and depression, although the difference across the countries under study was small.