Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2021 , Vol 24, Issue 1
THE EFFECT OF FEAR OF COVID-19 AND SOCIAL ISOLATION ON THE FRAGILITY IN THE ELDERLY
Burak METE1, Ferdi TANIR1, Ceren KANAT1
1Cukurova University, Public Health Department, Adana, Turkey DOI : 10.31086/tjgeri.2021.196 Introduction: The most important matter on which a consensus is built about COVID-19 disease is that the elderly are one of the most vulnerable risk groups. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the fragility of the elderly.

Materials and Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study conducted at the end of the sixth month of the pandemic. Our study included 319 elderly individuals. The elderly individuals were reached at the primary level health centers. "FRAIL Frailty Scale" and "Coronavirus Fear Scale" were used in the evaluation.

Results: The results showed that 72.4% of the elderly population could not comply with the routine health checks and chronic complaints increased to 39.3% during social isolation. In the first six-month period of the pandemic, it was found that the prefrail and fragile elderly population increase by 4.7% and 6.6%, respectively. The fragility risk increased by 1.03 times (OR:1.001-1.007) as COVID-19 fear increased, while 2.2 times (OR:1.23-3.94) in those with diabetes, 1.88 times (OR:1.01-3.49) in those with cardiovascular diseases, and 2.15 times (OR:1.07-4.34) in those who postponed their routine health checks.

Conclusion: Early stage results of social isolation measures taken for the elderly within the scope of the pandemic indicated that fear of coronavirus infection increased fragility among the elderly. Elderly health evaluations should continue in the further stages of the pandemic. Keywords : Pandemics; Frail Elderly; Social Isolation