Impact of social isolation on older outpatients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 1Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Abstract
Objective
We aimed to evaluate the impact of social isolation during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the health of older outpatients in São Paulo, Brazil.Methods
A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the Multidimensional Assessment of the Elderly in Primary Care (AMPI-AB) tool to assess the functionality of individuals aged 60 years and older at three time-points: pre-pandemic (January 2019 - March 2020), during the pandemic (October 2021 - August 2022), and post-pandemic (September 2022 - July 2023). Data were extracted from medical records.Results
Among the 206 patients evaluated pre-pandemic, 94 were assessed during the pandemic, with 80 included in the final analysis. The mean age was 76.7 years; participants were predominantly female (66%). The number of healthy patients decreased from 52 pre-pandemic to 37 during the pandemic (18.8% reduction, p=0.001), while post-pandemic, the number of healthy patients increased to 45 (21.6% improvement from the pandemic period, p <0.001). The average AMPI-AB score rose from 4.8 points pre-pandemic to 6.2 points during the pandemic, then slightly decreased to 6.0 points post-pandemic, indicating a modest recovery in functionality.Conclusion
Our findings highlight significant consequences of social isolation on the health of the older population, which are characterized by a decline in well-being and functionality during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a notable recovery was observed post-pandemic, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to support vulnerable older individuals in future public health crises.
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BibTeX
@article{zilotti2026impact,
title = {{Impact of social isolation on older outpatients during the COVID-19 pandemic.}},
author = {Leonardo Trovo Zilotti and Alexandre Elias Romanos and Marcelo Kenzo Naya Takahashi and Alexandre Leopold Busse and Wilson Jacob Filho},
journal = {Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31744/einstein_journal/2026ao1970},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42848637},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Impact of social isolation on older outpatients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AU - Leonardo Trovo Zilotti
AU - Alexandre Elias Romanos
AU - Marcelo Kenzo Naya Takahashi
AU - Alexandre Leopold Busse
AU - Wilson Jacob Filho
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
DO - 10.31744/einstein_journal/2026ao1970
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42848637
AB - Objective We aimed to evaluate the impact of social isolation during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the health of older outpatients in São Paulo, Brazil.Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the Multidimensional Assessment of the Elderly in Primary Care (AMPI-AB) tool to assess the functionality of individuals aged 60 years and older at three time-points: pre-pandemic (January 2019 - March 2020), during the pandemic (October 2021 - August 2022), and post-pandemic (September 2022 - July 2023). Data were extracted from medical records.Results Among the 206 patients evaluated pre-pandemic, 94 were assessed during the pandemic, with 80 included in the final analysis. The mean age was 76.7 years; participants were predominantly female (66%). The number of healthy patients decreased from 52 pre-pandemic to 37 during the pandemic (18.8% reduction, p=0.001), while post-pandemic, the number of healthy patients increased to 45 (21.6% improvement from the pandemic period, p <0.001). The average AMPI-AB score rose from 4.8 points pre-pandemic to 6.2 points during the pandemic, then slightly decreased to 6.0 points post-pandemic, indicating a modest recovery in functionality.Conclusion Our findings highlight significant consequences of social isolation on the health of the older population, which are characterized by a decline in well-being and functionality during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a notable recovery was observed post-pandemic, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to support vulnerable older individuals in future public health crises.
SN - 1679-4508
SN - 2317-6385
ER -