Aging
Assessing the effects of COVID-19 related disruptions on disability in a diverse cohort of older adults Joseph Fong* Joseph Fong L. Paloma Rojas-Saunero Ryo Ikesu Paola Gilsanz Rachel A. Whitmer M. Maria Glymour Elizabeth Rose Mayeda
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects in the US, disrupting health and social systems. Some studies have reported COVID-19 disruptions were associated with disability in older adults, but there are significant gaps in evaluating health effects of COVID-19 disruptions in racially/ethnically-diverse older adults.
Methods: Data are from the Kaiser Healthy and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) study, a cohort of long-term Kaiser Permanente Northern California members aged 65+ at recruitment in 2017. COVID-19 disruption (social and personal) was calculated as the mean of 4 Likert questions (1 never – 5 extremely) from the COVID-19 Impact Survey score collected from Nov 2020 to Jun 2021. Outcome was probability of disability (>=1 functional limitation out of 12 domains) assessed between 2017-2023. We used generalized estimating equations with robust standard errors to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) for the association of COVID-19 disruption and probability of disability; covariates included sex, race/ethnicity (Asian, Black, Latino, and White), parental education, income range, income worries, childhood socioeconomic status, subjective social status, baseline age, years in study, and interview mode for outcome assessment (phone vs. face-to-face) .
Results: The analytic sample included 416 participants; mean age = 74.7 years (SD = 6.1), mean follow-up time was 4.0 years (SD = 1.3). 72% reported at least one functional limitation. Mean COVID-19 disruption score was 2.6 (SD = 0.8) (Figure 1). One-unit higher COVID-19 disruption score was associated with higher probability of disability (PR = 1.10 [95% CI: 1.06, 1.13]).
Conclusion: Higher COVID-19 disruption was associated with higher probability of disability. Next steps include estimating effects of COVID-19 disruption on change in probability of disability over time.
