Comparison of the Quality of Life and Depression in the Elderly with and without a History of COVID-19 Infection in Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Background. COVID-19 causes many physical and mental complications. The elderly, as one of the vulnerable groups, were more exposed to the problems caused by this pandemic. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of life and depression in the elderly with and without a history of COVID-19 infection. Method. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted on 404 elderly people (202 from the affected group and 202 from the nonaffected group) aged over 60 years old in Shiraz city. The elderly participants were selected based on simple random sampling from the elderly list. In order to collect information, the quality of life questionnaire of the World Health Organization and Beck’s depression questionnaire were used. Data analysis was done through SPSS software version 22 using statistical tests of chi-square, $t$ -test, analysis of variance, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. An alpha level under 0.05 was considered the significant level. Results. The average score of depression in the elderly with a history of COVID-19 ( $14.66\pm 13.17$ ) was significantly higher than that of the elderly without a history of COVID-19 ( $9.71\pm 10.12$ ) ( $p<0.001$ ). The average score of the quality of life in the elderly with a history of COVID-19 ( $80.15\pm 14.85$ ) was significantly lower than that of the elderly without a history of COVID-19 ( $85.25\pm 14.09$ ) ( $p<0.001$ ). Conclusion. Elderly people with a history of COVID-19 had more depression and lower quality of life compared to people without a history of COVID-19. It is suggested that planners and health policymakers should pay special attention to the use of effective psychological interventions in order to reduce the problems of the elderly.