The health situation weighs more and more heavily on many of us. This is especially true for some psychologically fragile elderly people. 400 patients from the Vinatier hospital in Lyon (within the psychiatry center for the elderly.) And from the Saint-Étienne CHU (in the geriatric department, at the Charité) have been participating since January 18 in a study on the impact of the Covid crisis, and in particular of confinements, on this public.
The patients benefited from a teleconsultation follow-up to collect various data on their conditions of confinement, signs of anxiety, depression etc. For the second stage, 120 of these patients will again be interviewed by telephone. A third data collection should be carried out in several months, once the pandemic is over, in order to assess the possible post-traumatic stress disorder linked to confinements, and more generally to the health crisis.
We talk a lot about the depression of young people, less of the elderly
The project is coordinated by Doctor Isabelle Rouch, epidemiologist, doctor at the CHU Stéphanois and researcher at ISPED in Bordeaux. She feels that for the elderly public, the psychological impact of the pandemic has not really been taken into account.
“It is true that there are a lot of studies that are done in the general population, a lot of online studies, we talk a lot about depression in young people, but the elderly we talk about less”, regrets Isabelle Rouch. According to her, this can be explained in particular by “a focus, for those over 65, on the risk of contracting the Covid and suddenly having a serious form, but the psychological repercussions were in quotation marks in the background and we were less concerned about it”.
Support from the Apicil Foundation
However, this impact is heavy in some patients, assures Isabelle Rouch. Especially during times of confinement. “For elderly patients with cognitive disorders, we will really see a very clear worsening of the disorders, due to the fact that they are no longer called upon, that they can no longer participate in memory stimulation groups in day care centers. example, and my psychiatrists and gerontopsychiatrist colleagues noted a worsening of the anxiety and depressive symptoms as well _because patients lack solicitations, social contacts_“, adds Dr Rouch.
The Apicil foundation (which campaigns for pain relief) is helping to fund the SteraCovid study, as is the Saint-Étienne University Hospital. The cost of the research is estimated at 45,000 euros.
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